Finding Time
by Basil-Ovelby
Summary: Less-than-perfect circumstances leave the Star Fox and Star Wolf teams stranded in space aboard a slowly dying ship, their one source of survival already ebbing away. Some Panther x Krystal and Fox x Wolf.
1. Part 1

Wow, so this is taking me a _lot_ longer to write than I thought it would. It's also turning out much, much longer. So much for wanting to write a short little one-shot. Then again, when is anything ever short with me? I've somehow lost my ability to write anything less than like... twenty pages.

So anyway, due to its length and the time it's taking me to finish, I'll be posting up parts to this as soon as I finish them. Not sure how long the next one will be... 'll probably just go until I feel like I've hit a really good part-ender. Or the end of the fic. Who knows!

Standard disclaimers apply in that I don't own Star Fox or any of its characters.

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Finding Time

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-Part One-

Fox had been drifting in the space between reality and dreams when the alarm went off. It wasn't all that loud, but the repetitive, monotonous pitch was highly grating, forcing his eyes open as he gave a small groan.

He'd been sprawled back in one of the chairs on the bridge, feet up on the controls. Peppy hated when he did that, but the old hare wasn't here right now, was he?

With a small huff, he shrugged his shoulders forward until he was seated upright in the chair, albeit a bit slumped over. He wiped the sleep out of his eyes as he tried to register exactly which alarm it was that had woken him from his nap. He'd just begun to let his eyes wander lazily over the blinking lights when he heard the whoosh of a door open behind him.

"Fox, could you actually check the goddamned alerts once in a while?" Falco idled up beside him, hands on his hips. "That thing's been goin' off for five minutes now."

"I'm checking it, I'm checking it..." This was said with a yawn, which didn't help ease Falco's annoyance.

Another whoosh and soon Peppy had entered the room as well. "Is that what I think it is? Why hasn't anyone checked it yet?"

Fox's eyebrows furrowed a bit as he grimaced, knowing what was to come.

"Genius here's been sleeping at the console right next to the damn thing. I'm beginning to think he could sleep through a friggin' raid!"

Fox grumbled something under his breath but didn't say anything. His eyes focused on the blinking blue light on the far left corner of the console. Indeed, Peppy had been right. It was the distress signal.

He gave it a small tap with his finger. "Looks like it's the distress signal."

Falco rolled his eyes. "Thanks for stating what we already _know._"

Peppy had made his way over to the console by now as well, bringing up the keyboard from its spot underneath the main flight controls. He began typing away, one of the nearby monitors changing to bring up a black screen as the commands he was inputting appeared in green lettering. Fox took this opportunity to slap Falco's shoulder with the back of his hand.

"Looks like..." Peppy was glancing towards another set of monitors now. A series of windows were popping up, targeting in on various bits of information. One was locating points as it whizzed through a line diagram of the Lylat system. "Here. Here we go." He tapped one of the screens.

"Dammit, not the asteroid field." Fox scratched his head as he let out a sigh. "That's gotta be the most annoying place to look for someone _ever_."

Falco cocked his hip to the side, tilting his head. "Is there anyone else in the vicinity?"

More furious typing by Peppy, and soon a number of other windows popped up. He bit his lip. "There's a small Cornerian force stationed just outside the Solar atmosphere, and Macbeth's got some folks on Titania... that's just a mining operation though."

Another sigh came from Fox. "Why is it that when there's some sort of call in a place like the asteroid field, Corneria's light-years away, but a call comes from a resort on Aquas and they're _more_ than happy to check it out?"

"It's the government. What can ya do?"

Peppy was still typing, the screen zeroing in closer as large objects appeared on the diagram. A few labels showed up outside one of the windows, blinking. "It's coming from the far end... not a lot of traffic out there."

At this, Falco raised an eyebrow. "Kinda strange... what's somebody doing way out there?"

"Might have gotten hit by something and drifted off course..." Peppy's eyes were reading some of the information on screen.

"So, not only do we have to go to the asteroid field, but we have to friggin' head out to the _boonies_? This keeps getting better and better!" Fox had a hand up over his eyes, letting himself slump back into his chair.

"I'm charting a course there now. We'll have to switch over to manual once we hit the field itself, though." One or two more commands into the keyboard were followed by a few sharp raps of the enter key before Fox felt the engine kick to life below him. He could feel the chair vibrate slightly as a small hum spread across the room. "Should only take about an hour if we take Alpha speed to the border... lucky for us that we decided to stick around the Fortuna airspace that extra day, huh?"

Fox scoffed. "Yeah. Lucky."

An all-too familiar whoosh came from behind them once again, this time both Slippy and Krystal appearing in the doorway. "Where we going? I was working on ROB down in the engine room, and it practically scared me half to death!"

Falco ran a hand through the feathers on his head. "Distress signal."

"Distress signal?" Krystal's eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Where from?"

"Over in the asteroid field." Peppy finally turned away from the computer monitors he'd been staring at so intently. "Far east quarter."

"Well, crap. You don't see that very often!" Slippy's eyes widened.

"Tell me about it." Fox swung around in his chair, coming to face the two new arrivals. "By the way, how _is _ROB?"

Slippy brought a hand up to lift his hat, scratching his head underneath. "S'going ok, I guess. I think the new update just overloaded him. I'm having to go through and reset all the connections on the mainframe to manual... switching around a few plugs..."

"We should just be glad we don't need him for anything too important at the moment. We could be in a lot worse shape." Peppy gave a small chuckle.

Slippy laughed as well. "I guess you're right, there. Still, it'll be nice to get him up and running again."

The hum of the engine grew louder for a second before the entire bridge gave a small kick. Fox looked towards the view-window to see that they had, indeed, taken off for the asteroid field. Once the ship hit its calculated speed, the engine noise died down once again.

There was an almost awkward silence as the five of them simply stood around facing each other. Fox was idly shuffling his feet back and forth under his chair, letting his eyes travel upward to look at the ceiling. On the way back down, he caught Krystal's gaze and flashed her a smile. The vixen blushed a bit, looking away.

"Well, I suppose I'll stay here to watch for our entry into the field. With ROB not at the controls, we'll have to be careful and watch our time." Peppy shuffled over to one of the nearby chairs and plopped down, settling into it with a small sigh.

The rest of the team watched him for a moment, Slippy finally breaking the silence as he began walking for the door. "I guess I'll head back down to work on ROB some more. Call me when we get there."

Fox pushed himself out of his chair, walking after the frog. "Hey, I'll come help you. I'd like to see how he's coming along."

Slippy turned to give him a grin. "Thanks, Fox!"

With another whoosh, both of them had left the bridge, silence settling over the room once more. Krystal stood with her arms crossed across her chest, looking down at the floor. Falco tapped his foot a bit, nodding his head.

"Well."

Krystal looked up at him, inquisitive.

"I have to go take a shit."

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Down in the engine room, Slippy got right to work once more on ROB. The robot in question sat on a table near the back, in the area Slippy had labeled as his 'workshop'. This only meant, however, that he had a small tool rack in the corner and a number of stools to sit on, but it made the frog happy to have a place to himself.

Fox rolled up his sleeves, which had started to fall down a bit, and moved in to help. Slippy had him holding wires in place, tying off clumps of cords, and even snipping a few. He, himself, had connected ROB up to a portable data monitor and was frantically typing away at the tiny keypad. He would have Fox tie off a new wire, then enter a new set of data into the device.

Just as Fox felt a few beads of sweat roll down his forehead at the fourth pair of wires he had to hold perfectly still, he heard Peppy's booming voice call out over the loudspeaker. "We're coming up to the asteroid field. I'm switching to manual controls."

The engine was once again grinding around them as it brought the ship out of Alpha speed, the hum causing Fox's head to whir a bit as it lowered in pitch. Finally, with a slight shake, their flight became smooth once more. There were a few clicks as some gears turned, which meant Peppy had just turned off the auto-pilot.

Unfortunately, during all this, Fox had forgotten that he was trying to hold some wire still, so when he turned his head back to face ROB, he found Slippy glaring at him.

"Fox, I can't do anything if you're movin' the wires all over the place!"

"Sorry, sorry!" He quickly got the wires back in the right configuration, biting his lip a bit as he watched Slippy approach with the wire clippers.

Once they'd finished that task, Fox took his leave from Slippy's services and made his way back to the elevator that would take him to the bridge. When he arrived just a minute later, he found both Falco and Krystal watching as Peppy was handling the controls. Outside the view-window, he could see large asteroids looming around them as the ship slowly lumbered its way through.

"Everything ok so far?" He walked briskly towards the three of them, crossing his arms.

Peppy glanced back at him. "So far, so good."

"We came in on the east side, so it hopefully won't take too long to get the source of the signal." Falco scratched below his beak, his eyes fixated on the view of space in front of him.

Fox remained silent for a few minutes, joining Falco in watching the sight of the asteroids. "I don't remember the East Quarter being so cluttered..." There were definitely more asteroids roaming about than he remembered. Then again, it _had _been almost three years since he'd even been in these parts. Most work that even required them to come to the asteroid field took place in the West Quarter, since that was a much higher traffic area.

"The asteroids wouldn't shift that much, would they?" Krystal turned her eyes towards him, questioning.

Fox bit his lip in response, not really that sure himself.

"I almost wonder if they haven't been blasted apart by something. Don't they seem a bit smaller to you?" Falco gestured towards the window.

Once again, however, Fox was silent. To tell the truth, he hadn't actually found anything about their size unusual.

The three of them continued to watch their progress as they maneuvered through the field, Peppy handling the controls like he'd done it every day of his life. One of the nearby monitors was flashing a point on the diagram it had formed earlier, signaling that they were close to their destination.

"We should be... about... there..." Peppy was squinting his eyes as he scanned the window, then lowering his eyes to check their position on the diagram. "Fox, do you see anything?"

Fox began squinting his eyes as Peppy had done, trying to make out anything against the black of space. It was a bit hard to see anything, though, with the slew of asteroids that were drifting slowly about them. As they continued moving forward, Fox caught a small flash of silver in his eye.

"Wait, wait..." He leaned forward, resting his hands on the back of Peppy's chair. The silver flash became more prominent, and now Fox could even see what looked like two others surrounding it. "There! Right there!" He raised his hand to point towards what he was seeing.

Both Falco and Krystal instinctively leaned forward at this, following the direction of Fox's finger.

"Looks like three ships," Falco bemused.

"Yeah..." Something was bugging him, but he didn't know what. He continued watching the newly sighted ships intently. It wasn't until he could make out flashes of red along with the silver, though, that he felt his stomach drop. "Oh no..."

As if on cue, one of the nearby monitors suddenly lit up, a familiar face appearing on the screen.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Star Fox!"

Fox's eyes narrowed. "Hello, Wolf."

"Now, what kind of attitude is that? We haven't seen each other in so long, I'd have thought you'd be a bit happier to see me!" The mock sadness in his voice did nothing to ease the disgruntled vulpine.

With another small flash, the monitor next to the one Wolf's face had already appeared on came to life as well. "Star Fox, eh? Not exactly the company we were expecting to see."

This time it was Falco's turn to grit his teeth. "Looks like he brought the fucking circus with him as usual."

The chameleon's expression didn't change much, but there was something about his glare that made him seem that much more sadistic. "I'd watch your mouth, bird."

"Yeah, well, you're not exactly in a position to be giving orders now, are you?"

Leon simply scowled.

"Am I missing out on the party?" Now it was Panther who showed up on another monitor.

"You're not missing anything, Panther, unless you wanna hear the annoying, whining voice of a certain fox."

Fox was at the monitor, face inches away from the screen. "You wanna say that again, doggie?"

"I don't know if you'd be able to take it, _kitty_."

Fox practically pounced onto the monitor, only stopped in time by Peppy's arm as the old hare darted forward to hold him back. "Gentlemen, _gentlemen_. This is the _last _thing we need to be doing right now."

At this, Fox slunk back, rubbing the side of his arm in aggravation. He didn't say anything else, though. On the screen, Wolf chewed the inside of his cheek incredulously.

"Alright now, that's better." Peppy glanced back and forth between the two canines. "What we need to do now, is figure out exactly what's going on. Wolf, why'd you have to send out the distress signal?"

Wolf's eye looked to the ceiling of his ship. "Leon lost a part of his engine. There was no way he was going to be able to make it out of here without it. The damn thing barely _moves_."

Fox continued to stare at the monitor with his eyebrows furrowed. He couldn't help but notice that both Leon and Panther stayed strangely silent.

"Well, that's simple enough. In any other situation, I might be a bit more wary to do this..." Peppy sent a stern glance towards all three screens. "...but all things considered, we don't have much choice. We'll have you three dock with us and we'll take you to the nearest spaceport. From here, I believe heading back to Fortuna would be quickest."

"I do _not_ want them docking with us, Peppy..." This time the comment came from Falco, who stood next to him, a grimace on his face.

"Falco, I don't need this from you, too. Were it anyone else in need, we'd be more than happy to assist them."

"Yeah, but anyone else isn't our sworn enemy."

Fox scoffed at this. "That's for sure..."

"Peppy's right." Krystal had a touch of anger in her voice. "You two need to grow up a bit. Just because we don't always get along doesn't mean we can just leave them for dead."

A small growl came from one of the monitors. "Is that Krystal I hear? To think I'm being saved by such a beautiful vixen, it truly makes me feel like the luckiest cat in the world."

"On second thought, leaving them for dead doesn't sound like such a bad idea." Krystal crossed her arms, slumping her shoulders.

"Can we _please_ not let this turn into an insult war?" Peppy was now glaring back towards the other Star Fox members. "I know none of you are too happy, but it's not that long to Fortuna. One or two hours is not going to kill you."

"Yeah, listen to the old man, Fox." Wolf was sneering from his monitor.

Peppy immediately turned back. "And that goes for you too, or we really _will_ just leave you here."

That shut the lupine up. He sat back in his cockpit, pouting.

Peppy began inputting more commands into the keyboard, this time bringing up a diagram of the Great Fox. "I'll go ahead and open the hatch. Will Leon have any trouble getting his ship onboard?"

There was a slight static noise and the monitor with Leon's face blinked a few times before returning to normal. "Wait, what did he say?"

"He asked if you'd have any _trouble_ getting your ship onboard..."

Leon blinked a few times. "Oh... right. Er, no, I should be fine. It's not that... far."

The clicking of keys was heard once more and soon Fox felt the Great Fox move a bit under his feet as the hatches unhooked themselves. He watched through the window as the three ships began moving slowly towards them, soon disappearing from view as they traveled under the bulk of the ship.

The three monitors displaying the members of Star Wolf fizzed into nothing as they cut off their connections. The awkward silence from earlier returned as the four on the bridge just stood, waiting. With a small whistle through his teeth, Peppy typed something else onto the keyboard before hitting the enter key with a touch of finality.

"Someone needs to go meet them in the docking bay."

Fox had his hands on his hips, jaw jutting out a bit in a pout. "Well, I'm not doing it."

"Heh, that's our leader." Falco shot him a glare.

Fox growled. "Well, I don't see you rushing out to greet them!"

"Why don't we _all_ go?"

Both pilots turned at the sound of Krystal's voice from behind them. Neither one said anything, not wanting to commit themselves to the trip.

It was Peppy who finally spoke up, not even turning around to face them.

"Listen to the woman, boys."

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Fox's foot was tapping in annoyance as he waited for the three members of Star Wolf to finish shutting down their ships, the low hum that was reverberating throughout the bay softening until it was completely gone. Next to him, Falco had his arms crossed, staring with increased interest at the wall near them. On the other side, Krystal was smoothing back a part of her bangs that had fallen in front of her eyes.

With a slight hiss, the cockpit of the first Wolfen opened. A grayish shape emerged, doing a series of flips before landing gracefully on the ground below. The lupine flashed the trio a grin before mimicking his hand like a gun, clicking his tongue against his teeth.

Fox simply raised an eyebrow. "Nice, Wolf. I'm not at all impressed."

Raising his arms above his head in a stretch, Wolf began making his way towards them. "Yeah, I know you'd never admit it. Too much pride for your own good."

Two more hisses came from behind him, and soon he was joined on the ground by the other two members of his team, albeit minus the flashy entrances. Leon was hunched forward as he walked, his tail curled almost completely up. Panther idly scratched behind one of his ears as he sauntered his way over.

"So we finally get to see the inside of the infamous Great Fox." Wolf's good eye was glancing around, following the walls encompassing the entire docking bay.

"Yeah, well, don't get too cozy. The sooner you guys are off, the better." With that, Fox turned his back and began walking grumpily to the elevator.

The remaining five simply watched him for a few seconds. Wolf hooked his thumbs around his belt loops and turned to Falco, who had finally acknowledged their arrival. "I always love a warm welcome." He began following after Fox, tail twitching back and forth a bit erratically.

The departure of the two canines from the group worked as a signal for everyone to begin walking, and soon all six of them were in the elevator, riding back up to the bridge. No one said anything, most standing with their heads tilted slightly downward so they wouldn't have to make eye-contact with anyone.

When the door to the bridge opened, Peppy turned around to greet everyone. The indignant group of pilots slowly filed their way in, Fox in the lead. The vulpine instinctively walked as far away from the others as he could, walking over towards the main controls.

"Good to see you all made it on ok." Peppy clasped his hands together, smiling.

Wolf scratched his neck in an over-exaggerated motion. "Yeah, well, you're about the only one." He shot a glare at Fox, who merely grumbled.

Panther had idled his way up to Krystal rather nonchalantly, and was now slowly preening himself. Once sure all his fur was in its proper place, he turned his head in a dashing manner towards the vixen. "It's so nice to see you again, Krystal. It's been so long since we've been able to talk."

"It's so nice to see you... too..." She forced a smile, not wanting to appear rude. She was about to take a small step to her left but had to stop when a quick glance told her that Leon was standing on her other side, staring down at the ground and mumbling something incoherent under his breath.

"Your beauty grows by leaps and bounds each day. Why, just taking in the sight of you practically makes my heart stop in my chest."

She gave a strained laugh. "Thank you... Panther. You've also grown even more..." The black cat ran a hand across his muzzle before flashing her a charismatic smile. "...narcissistic."

Falco was brushing off his jacket stiffly, obviously a bit miffed. He was eying Leon, one eyebrow raised. "Well, since we're already helping you and all, we might as well do what else we can to help. We'll have Slippy take a look at your ship... see what he can do."

Leon's eyes opened a bit wider in surprise, but it was Wolf who stepped forward, interjecting with a rather contrived laugh. "Oh really, we don't want to be that much of a bother. There's no need to check on the shi-"

He was quickly muffled as a tail slipped over his mouth, cutting off his voice as it coiled tightly around the entire lower half of his face and neck.

"What our eloquent leader is trying to say is that we have special mechanics back at our base that do all the work on our ships. There are certain techniques and procedures that are required that we don't trust anyone else to do. They're a bit delicate, you see..." Leon chuckled a bit under his breath.

Falco, however, wasn't buying it. "We can at least get you a new engine thruster. If you install it to the outer cutlet, you won't even have to open up the main power console. Slippy'll just have to look at it to see what size you'd need."

Leon was starting to appear worried. His eyes shifted to glance towards Wolf, whom he still held captive in his tail. Wolf simply looked back, one eyebrow raised.

"Really, really... we're fine. We'll just..." Leon bit his lip. "We'll attach it to... one of the other ships..."

Fox took a step forward. "Why couldn't you have done that to begin with?"

They were cornered now.

"Well, you see..."

"Oh, just shut up and admit it. This was all a set-up, wasn't it?" Falco moved forward until he was right in front of the lizard, using his height to his advantage as he looked down on him.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Wolf had finally managed to free himself from his co-pilot's grip, wiping off the side of his face. Fox took this opportunity grab the taller canine's collar and pull him down to his level.

"So the mighty Star Wolf has resorted itself to petty crimes now, is that it? Who were you waiting for? 'Cuz I'm sure it wasn't us."

Wolf tried to pull himself away but the awkward position of his back wasn't helping him much. "Well... well maybe if we were as lucky as Star Fox in having all our fucking needs taken care of all the time... and if we weren't unjustly charged with every goddamned crime in this entire system..." He continued pulling, his voice catching every time his collar pulled on his throat.

"We were waiting for the Cornerian embassy that was supposed to be making its way to Katina today." Panther stepped forward, becoming a bit fed up with the back-and-forth bickering on the bridge.

Fox looked up in surprise, letting go of Wolf's collar. "Senator Kalray's entourage?"

Panther nodded. "It was the perfect opportunity. They would be the only ones within range to come and aid us... and everyone knows the senator isn't fond of bringing Cornerian fighters with him. It would have been too easy."

Wolf rubbed his neck, grimacing. "But we weren't expecting you jerkasses to show up."

Peppy had remained silent this whole time, idly rubbing his chin with narrowed eyes. "Well, this certainly does reveal a lot..."

"What do ya say, Peppy? We take this bunch to Corneria instead? Turn 'em in?" Falco rubbed his hands together a bit gleefully, an evil grin on his face.

Leon shot him a look of hatred, tensing his entire body. "You _would_ do that, bird."

"Now, wait, wait, wait..." Peppy waved his arms to separate the two pilots. "No one said we were going to be doing that, _Falco_. Technically, they haven't even done anything yet, and they did just confess. Why don't we consider that a sort of plea-bargain? We'll take them back to Fortuna like we had planned, but before they can go, we'll install tracking devices into their ships."

Wolf almost exploded. "Tracking devices?! What the hell?"

"Hey, I wouldn't say anything if I were you! Peppy's doing a lot for you good-for-nothing bastards by not turning you in right now. I'd be thankful if I were you." Fox gave the other canine a small shove.

The realization dawned on the three Star Wolf pilots, which quickly silenced them. As much as they didn't like it, not only could they not doing anything about it, but it could be a lot worse. Leon and Wolf stood scowling with their arms crossed while Panther simply shined up the collar of his suit.

"Alright, it seems that we've reached an agreement then." Peppy nodded with a smile, almost as if everyone was actually pleased with the situation. "We should probably be heading off then. While we're on our way, we can get Slippy up here to install the devices in your ships." The old hare then turned around to slip back into his chair, bringing the keyboard back out so he could start the main engines of the ship up again.

Krystal, who'd backed out of the conversation for good reason, wasn't quite sure what to do. She could feel the tension in the room. Actually, she could see it, because both Leon and Wolf were glaring daggers at the other two Star Fox members. "Well... isn't this just a wonderful reunion!" It was said more as an exclamation than a question.

"It would seem that our teammates are not exactly pleased with each other."

Krystal looked to Panther and couldn't help but nod.

There was a slight groan as the Great Fox began moving again, slowly turning around from its original position. Despite their annoyance, most members of the two teams turned towards the window to watch as they began moving through the asteroids, gliding past them like fish in the ocean.

A familiar whoosh came from behind them quite suddenly, followed by a short cry of surprise. "What's Star Wolf doing here?"

Fox glanced back, not bothering to move. "Heeey, Slippy." Nobody else even responded.

The frog made his way over to Fox's side, eyes still wide open as they never left the three extraneous pilots. He was absent-mindedly twiddling a wrench in his hands.

Fox jerked his thumb towards the aforementioned newcomers. "They were the distress call. Now we have to take them back to Fortuna."

"Well, that sounds like fun." Slippy rolled his eyes. "Who knows what kind of trouble they'll cause."

At this, Wolf turned to glare at him. "You know, I used to eat frogs all the time when I was younger. Quite delicious, actually. I've been thinking about taking it up again." He leaned forward menacingly.

Slippy gulped, taking a step back and practically running into Fox.

"S'ok, Slip. He can't do anything." Fox reached over to take hold of the back of the lupine's collar again, this time lifting him up and away from the frog. "'Sides, you get the fun job of installing tracking devices in their ships... and they're _ever _so grateful." He gave Wolf a rather evil sneer.

Wolf brought his hands up to his neck to try and separate the collar from his throat, but to no avail. "I really... wish you'd... stop _doing that!_"

A sudden impact rocked through the Great Fox, sending a vibration through the floor and causing all those standing to sway a bit precariously. Fox immediately let go of Wolf and looked up towards the window.

"Peppy, what the hell was that?"

Peppy was frantically searching the monitors with his eyes, while still trying to maneuver his way through the asteroids in front of him. "I'm not... I'm not sure. There's nothing on the radar."

"Did an asteroid hit us?" Falco was now at Peppy's side, trying to ascertain where they'd been hit.

"The scanner didn't detect any near the ship, and there haven't been any that close in front of us." Peppy's voice was filled with worry.

There was another shudder, this time coming from the left. A horrific creaking noise resounded throughout the interior of the Great Fox.

"Shit, that sounded like the wing." Fox's entire body had gone tense, his heart beginning to beat rapidly in his chest.

"That had to have been an asteroid!" Slippy was clenching the wrench tightly in his hands.

Peppy appeared to be having trouble piloting now. He was pulling on the wheel hard, trying to swing the ship to the right. As could be seen through the window, however, they continued veering off to the left.

"Peppy, did you lose the steering?" Falco was staring down at the controls in fear.

"I'm... I'm trying to get it..." The old hare was groaning from the strain of the wheel.

"I don't know if anyone's seeing this, but there's a _fucking huge asteroid headed right for us!_" Wolf was pointing out the window, panic quickly overtaking him.

"Move the ship, old man!" Leon was shaking Peppy's shoulders now. Falco was frantically pulling switches on the main console to try and get the ship to auto-right itself.

"I'm... I'm trying... it won't..."

The giant asteroid loomed right in front of them, barreling towards them as the ship continued to veer left. Just as the it was close enough to see the details on its rocky surface, everyone on the bridge began panicking. Slippy darted under a chair. Falco got to his knees behind the console, covering his head. Panther tried running to the back of the bridge, but tripped, falling onto his knees. Krystal brought her hands to her face in fear. Leon curled up into a ball on the floor. Fox turned quickly to run and ended up smashing into Wolf, both of them falling to the floor.

And Peppy continued pulling on the wheel.

There was a horrific crunch as the asteroid flew just low enough to miss the bridge, scraping into the bottom of the ship and tilting the entire thing upwards as it ground its way along the underside. The entire bridge suffered a tremendous shock, knocking everyone still standing onto the floor. Krystal felt her side connect with the hard, metal ground, knocking the wind out of her.

The groaning below them continued, the lights now flashing on and off erratically before finally shutting completely off, blanketing the entire bridge in darkness. As the noise began dying down, a small red light near the bridge entrance began slowly blinking. Each time it came on, an eerie red light would wash over everything, dark shadows forming in the corners of the room.

It took Fox a second to realize why it was suddenly so deathly quiet as he began to reorient himself. The engine... no... _everything_ on the ship had stopped. They were floating powerlessly in space. He felt a pit form in his stomach as he pushed himself up onto his knees.

He looked around the bridge, trying to locate the others he knew were there. He only had about five seconds to look while the red light shone across everything before it was off again.

Five seconds in light, five seconds in dark. Five seconds in light, five seconds in dark.

"...h...hey, is everyone ok?" His voice trembled slightly.

It was silent for a few moments before he heard a groan from below him. "Would you please get off... my fucking... _tail_?"

Fox instinctively backed up in surprise, feeling the fur from the appendage below him as Wolf brought his tail in closer to him.

"Cripes, m'sorry."

"...I'm alright, Fox..." He heard Slippy's voice come from not too far off. He looked to where he thought Slippy was, trying to make him out through the red light. The frog brought his hand up to wave weakly from underneath the chair he was still hiding under.

"I'm alright too..." Krystal gave a groan as she pushed herself to a sitting position. Her shoulder ached horribly, making it difficult to move her left arm. "Just a bit worse for the wear."

Sensing a shift next to him, Fox could make out Wolf sitting up as well in the darkness. "Leon? Panther?"

"Here, boss." This time the voice came from the other side of the room. Fox couldn't see anything over in that corner, even with the light. The cat whom the voice belonged to, however, sounded fine, which was a relief.

After a few more moments of silence, Wolf called out again. "Leon?" Still no response. "Dammit, where is that idiot?"

Wolf slowly pushed himself to his feet, staggering a little bit as he tried to keep his balance. He began making his way precariously toward the front of the bridge, where he assumed his co-pilot still was. "Leon, you better be unconscious or dead, ya hear me?"

Fox cringed. Why did Wolf have to say things like that?

With a small cry, Wolf felt himself practically trip over the small step leading to the main console area. He was barely able to keep himself from toppling over as he held his hands out in front of him. Fortunately, his left foot moved forward on instinct to catch his fall.

He glanced around, trying to peer through the darkness. "Leon?"

As he took another step forward, he felt his foot come in contact with something much softer than the step had been. He quickly knelt down, reaching his hands out to feel what was in front of him.

From the other end of the room, Fox heard Wolf call out a bit worriedly. "I found Leon." There was a short pause. "He's still... he's still breathing and everything. In fact, he seems just fine. I think the idiot's just shut himself down... he does that sometimes."

"Probably wet his pants in fear and was so ashamed that he retreated inside his head." Panther's voice came once again from the far side of the room.

At this, both Panther and Wolf started laughing, their voices sounding eerie and strange against the complete silence of the bridge. Fox felt himself getting a bit irritated. How could they laugh at a time like this?

It was then that he realized he hadn't heard from either Falco or Peppy. Those two had been up at the main console, hadn't they? But did they run back during the impact?

Following Wolf's example, he slowly got himself to his feet, feeling a bit shaky at first. "Falco? Peppy?" He began walking in the same direction that Wolf had, being careful to let one foot slide in front of the other and keep from hitting anything. As he got closer to the front of the bridge, he strained his eyes forward, trying to make out anything in the darkness. When the light flashed on once more, he saw Wolf kneeling not too far away. The other canine was now looking back at him.

"Wolf, do you see either Falco or Peppy up there?"

Wolf glanced around. "I could barely see _Leon_ up here. That emergency light doesn't reach back here that well, especially on the floor..."

"They've gotta be up there somewhere..." He took another step forward and suddenly felt himself falling forward, having completely forgotten about the step. He swung his arms frantically in an effort to right himself but to no avail. He fell to the floor with a resounding thud, cringing as pain wracked through his entire shoulder and arm. "Shit, shit, shit, shit..."

"Watch out for that step there, Fox."

Fox let himself simply breathe for a few moments, holding his shoulder. Finally, he was able to push himself to a kneeling position, grabbing his knees with his hands. "Jerk-off."

He continued sitting there for a while longer, just catching his breath, before he felt a small tap on his shoulder. He looked up but could only make out an amorphous black shadow standing over him. When the red light flashed back on, he saw Wolf looking down at him, his hand held out.

Grasping it without a second thought, he felt the older canine help pull him to his feet. A bit begrudgingly, he let out a small "thanks" before he was off once more, searching for his two co-pilots. "Falco? Peppy? Are either of you two over here?"

He made his way to the nearby wall, using it to guide him to the main console. On the way, however, he ran into an object with his feet, and quickly knelt down. "Falco?"

There was no answer. The bird was leaning up against the wall, his head hung forward. Fox took a hold of the other's shoulder and lightly shook him. "Falco, buddy... you ok?"

After a few more shakes, he felt movement from under his hands, and made out the dark blob that was Falco's head moving into an upright position. "Fox...?"

"Oh, thank _God_ you're alright." He leaned forward, wrapping his arms around the bird's neck in an embrace.

"I'm fine, I'm fine..." After only a few seconds, Falco was pushing him away. "What... what happened?"

Fox tilted back on his heels, chewing on a finger. "I'm not sure what all the asteroid hit... it missed the main bridge, thankfully. I... I think we've lost all power. Who knows what it looks like downstairs."

"Christ, I can't believe this is happening. How's everyone else? Are they all ok?"

"I... think so? I don't know where Peppy is, but so far, everyone else seems fine, though a little bit bruised."

"Peppy was still in his chair when it hit..."

The two pilots got to their feet, Falco looking around him as he took in the sight of the darkness surrounding them. A flash of the light and he could start to see the shapes of the others. They made their way along the wall a bit further until they reached the monitors, closely followed by the main control.

Fox reached blindly out until his hands came in contact with the chair. Following it forward, his hand came to rest on Peppy's back. The old hare appeared to be slumped over on the console, unmoving.

"Peppy... oh God..." He knelt forward, trying to take in the rabbit's condition. He tried shaking his shoulder as he'd done with Falco, but there was still no movement. "Falco, c'mere."

He felt a shift of movement to his side, and he knew that Falco was now next to him. "I'm not sure... he's not moving..."

Falco raised a hand up to Peppy's back, attempting to shake him. "Hey, old man." Again, no movement.

"Fox, what's wrong with Peppy?" Slippy's scared voice came from a short ways away.

"I..." His voice caught in his throat. "I don't know. I'm still trying to see."

By now, Falco had leaned forward, placing an ear against Peppy's back as he held his breath. Fox looked at him questioningly.

"He's still breathing!"

Fox felt relief wash through him as he sat back on his haunches. He let out a long sigh, closing his eyes. "Oh, _thank you..._" It was said to no one in particular.

Falco gently pulled Peppy's body off the console, leaning him back in the chair. He could barely see anything besides the dark blob he was pretty sure was his body. "Fox, why don't we get him over into the light?"

The vulpine nodded, quickly getting to his feet. With both of them grasping one of the rabbit's arms, they were able to move fairly quickly back into the center of the room. They made their way as close as they could to the bridge entrance, where the light continued flashing on and off.

With a slight grunt, the two of them placed Peppy down underneath the light. As it turned on once more, Fox took the opportunity to examine his mentor's state.

The old hare's face was covered in blood. His nose an unsightly mess as it appeared to be a bit mangled from impacting the controls. Fox felt his breath hitch, giving a little moan as he sank to his knees.

"He looks awful..."

"Oh God, Peppy..." A bit surprised, he turned his head to find Krystal behind him now, her hand covering her mouth. Her blue fur appeared almost purple under the red light.

Falco was down on his knees now as well. "We've got to get him to the infirmary or somethin'. Else he probably won't make it."

"We'll need to stop the bleeding... and check to see that he doesn't have a concussion. I'm fairly sure his nose is broken." Krystal was learning forward, trying to sound more confident than she felt.

The sound of footsteps slowly making their way towards them brought Fox's head up again. He saw Wolf as the light flashed once more.

"We also need to figure out if we can get the lights back on."

At this, Slippy piped up, still off by his chair. "We might be able to if we can jump-start the power source. I'd have to hardwire the main utility couplet to accept joint signals, though."

"Well, I think that's the best plan we have. We'll need two groups then – one to take care of Peppy, and one to head down to the engine room to see if we can fix the electricity."

"I can take care of Peppy. I'll just need someone to help me get him to the infirmary." Krystal let her eyes travel past everyone in their small circle.

"I could be of assistance, there."

All of them turned around as Panther stepped forward.

Krystal bit her lip, eyes narrowing a bit. "Panther, I don't think-"

"Alright, it's settled then." Falco cut in. "Krystal and Panther will take Peppy to the infirmary, and then rest of us are off to the engine room.

Krystal couldn't help the frown that crossed her face as her eyes traveled down to the floor. "...right."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

With the electricity gone, the elevators were out of commission, so the four heading down to the engine room had to take the stairs. Fox couldn't help but feel thankful that the asteroid hadn't nullified _that_ option as well. He wasn't sure he wanted to see exactly how much damage had been done to the different parts of the ship.

The stairwell itself was pitch black. They had to hold onto the guardrail tightly, moving along at an exceedingly slow pace, to make sure none of them fell. The last thing they needed now was for someone else to get injured.

Upon making it down the three flights, Slippy walked cautiously into the open area of the engine room.

"Alright... if we can make it to my tool rack, I have a few flashlights. We'll definitely need those if we're going to get anything done." He began heading slowly towards the back of the room, hands held out in front of him.

"Yeow! That's my _foot_ you just stepped on." Falco's voice came from behind him.

"Sorry, sorry. It's not like I can _see_ anything." And that was Wolf. He almost looked back to see if they were alright before realizing what a fruitless effort that would be.

"Can you guys make out where I'm going?"

There were a few moments of silence. "Not really."

Slippy rolled his eyes. "Just keep following the sound of my voice, ok?"

There was another thump from behind him.

"And that was _my_ foot, dumbass!"

"Guys, stop it!"

As Slippy took another step, his hands came in contact with the wall in front of him. "Alright! I found the wall." There was a sarcastic whoop from the three behind him. "Now we just... go..." He started walking to the left. "...over here a little bit."

He finally felt the shape of his tool rack under his hand. "Yes!" Once he was here, he didn't even _need_ a light. He knew the configuration of his tools like the back of his hand.

Unfortunately, he hadn't taken into account the fact that they were all strewn about from the impact of the asteroid.

"Crap, I can't find anything." His hand was searching through drawers and on pegs. Half of what he thought should be there wasn't there, and the rest of the time he found things that weren't in the right place. Just as he was about to give up hope, his hand closed around a familiar-feeling cylinder. "Oh, oh, never mind! I found it."

He pulled it out, giving a joyful cheer as he clicked it on. A small beam of light came out from the end, illuminating the tool rack in front of him. "Alright, now I just need to find the other one."

It didn't take him nearly as long now that he had one flashlight, and soon they were on their way to the other side of the room, flashlights in tow. They stopped at a small yellow box with a number of tubes and wires extending from the top.

"Here's the control box. I'll need to have someone here putting the right wires together while I handle the more complicated stuff over at the power board." He shone his flashlight towards the three of their faces. "Fox, you can do it, right?"

"Sure, I think so." He gave a little nod before giving Falco his flashlight. "Hold it for me, will ya?"

Slippy took his leave from the group, disappearing around a nearby corner. Fox kneeled down in front of the control box and opened the latch. Inside, a mess of wires greeted him, half of them smoldering and flayed. "Cripes, this is a mess..."

"Do you know what you're doing, Fox?"

Fox narrowed his eyes. "Slippy's gone over this a few times with me... I'm pretty sure I know what to do. It's just... it's a little different when they're all screwed up like this."

Fox began messing with the wires, looking at the different colors and trying to detangle them from each other. He sorted out what he thought would be right, having to wrack his brain to remember some of the various combinations.

After about ten minutes of messing around with the wires, Slippy's voice called out from a short ways beyond them. "Ok, Fox, you ready?"

"Ready for what?" Fox's voice came out a bit panicked.

"Do you have all the wires attached right?"

"I... uh... I think so."

"Good, 'cuz I'm gonna flick the switch and see if I got it."

"Be my guest, oh master mechanic." Fox leaned back a bit, away from the control box.

"Here goes nothin'!"

The three of them heard a click come from where Slippy's voice was located. A gentle hum began echoing throughout the engine room.

Along with what sounded like nails scratching across a chalkboard.

"Gah, Fox! Did you not get the wires right?"

Fox's eyes opened wide, his heart beating faster. "I... I thought so. I mean... I don't know!"

"Fix them! It's gonna burn itself out, and then we won't have any hope of starting it back up!"

In a flurry, Fox was back in the wires. The blue one... did the blue one really go with that green one? He couldn't remember anymore. Maybe it actually went with the black one. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead, falling into his eyes and making it more difficult to see.

"I... I..."

"Foooox!!"

The noise was getting louder.

"I'm trying..."

Blue... red? Maybe it was red? But didn't red go with orange?

"For cryin' out loud, Fox, let _me_ do it!" Wolf was down on his knees now, pushing Fox away. He reached into the box and found the two wires Fox had been looking at. He quickly reworked the combination, putting the blue and black together, before pulling apart two other wires Fox had thought were correct. As he brought the last two together, the noise sputtered to a stop, sounding like a choked lawnmower.

The hum, though, got louder, and suddenly, bright light enveloped the entire engine room. The electricity was back. The engine was slowly coming to life, renewed with power. Slippy started cheering from his position by the power board.

"Wolf, you did it." Fox was staring at him, wide-eyed.

Wolf was about to respond back when suddenly he was stopped short. A strange feeling started in his fingers, which were still holding onto where the wires were connecting. It suddenly rushed up through his entire body, followed by the worst pain he'd ever felt in his life.

A crisp, zapping noise echoed throughout the room, followed by a shower of sparks from the control box. With a horrifying jolt, the electricity ran through Wolf's whole body before blasting him backwards, sending him flying into the wall a short ways away. There was a dull thud, and then he fell crumpled to the floor.

"Holy SHIT!" Falco stared wide-eyed back towards where Wolf had flown. Mere seconds later, the lights in the engine room flashed intensely before once more blanketing them in darkness. The hum of the engine disappeared, deathly quiet settling over everything.

"...F... Fox? Fox, what happened?" Slippy's worried voice came from somewhere in the darkness.

"Oh... oh God. Wolf... he..." Fox was on his feet. He staggered over in the direction Wolf flew, trying to find his way. The short stint of light they'd been offered had caused his eyes to refocus, and now they had to get used to the darkness all over again.

A beam of light cut suddenly cut through towards him, and for a second he felt fear begin rising in his chest. He then realized that it was just Falco and the flashlight. The two of them raced over to the wall, the avian using the flashlight to locate Wolf on the ground.

He was surprisingly easy to find as there were still small wisps of smoke floating upwards from his body. Fox darted forward, grabbing the other's shoulders and rolling him onto his back.

Wolf's hair was sticking up erratically, bits and pieces of it splayed out in a random manner. Parts of his clothes looked blackened and charred, his fur much the same way, looking horrendously splotchy. His tail looked like a torn-up pipe cleaner while his ears had become bloody messes.

"Wolf!" Trying to lift his upper body in order to see better, Fox gave a out an anguished cry as his body fell limply in his arms.

"Is he breathing?" Falco was right next to him now.

Fox looked up at him, his eyes appearing lost. "I... I..."

"Give 'im here." He practically tore the older canine out of Fox's arms, setting him back down on the floor. He knelt down to place his ear against Wolf's chest. After a few moments, he moved his head up to listen near the other's muzzle. Still no results.

"Shit, shit, shit..."

This only upset Fox even more. "He's _dead_...!"

"Shut up, shut _up_ for a second!" Falco was clenching and unclenching his hands. A bead of sweat fell down from his forehead. "Ok... umm... yeah..." He didn't know what to do. He had no idea what to do.

"He's _DEAD...!_"

Falco clenched his eyes shut. He had to... wait, that? He'd never done it before. What if he did it wrong?

But it didn't matter.

He leaned his body over Wolf's with his hands on top of each other. Shakily, he positioned them over the other's chest. Barely breathing himself, he began pushing down with small jerks. After a few seconds of that, he bent down until he was level with the other's head, breathing deeply into his mouth.

Fox watched all of this with teary eyes, his own breath still caught in his throat. "Falco, do you know what you're-"

"Shut up! I... I don't know, ok." He was up again, pushing down on Wolf's chest.

Fox was quiet after that, not wanting to distract him. Falco continued to alternate between the two methods, hoping, dearGod _hoping _that he was doing this right. And that it would even make a difference.

He was just ready to bend down once more to give him a breath when Wolf suddenly gave out a horrific sounding cough. He whole body curled slightly inward, his good eye clenched shut even tighter.

And then he took a breath of much needed air.

"You did it, Falco! You did it, he's alive!"

Falco sat back on his haunches, heart still racing. It took him a second just to calm down enough to really register the fact that the lupine was now breathing normally, albeit still a bit raspy.

A bright beam of light was suddenly in Fox's eyes, causing him to instantly close them, bringing a hand up to his face.

"Fox, what in the world is going on?"

It was Slippy.

"Stop pointing that at my face!" The light was quickly refocused on the wall, still letting them see, but not blinding them. "Wolf... Wolf got electrocuted."

"How did _Wolf_ get _electrocuted?_"

"He... pushed me out of the way when I couldn't get the wires right." Fox couldn't help but start to feel guilty about the whole predicament. He lowered his head a bit, looking at the ground.

"Oh..." The light on the wall lowered slightly, as if mimicking the movements of Slippy's head.

"Fox...?"

All three of them blinked a few moments before realizing where the voice was coming from. Slippy pointed his flashlight down towards Wolf as Fox leaned forward.

"Yeah, Wolf...?"

"I'm fucking thirsty."

Fox grinned, a few stray tears still welling up in his eyes. "We'll get you something to drink, Wolf."

Falco, who'd been silent for sometime now, finally shifted forward a little bit. He brought his hands up to rub idly between his eyes. "Well, _now_ what are we gonna do? We didn't fix the electricity, and now we have _another _person who could be fatally wounded."

"Don't say that!" Fox looked at him sharply.

"Ok, ok, just _wounded_."

Fox's glare dissipated, leaving him looking simply tired and forlorn.

"I'll be... I'll be just... fine..." Wolf was struggling to sit up now. He put his hands out behind him but gave a small hiss, immediately bringing them back and falling back to the floor. He had grisly-looking red and black streaks across his hands, the skin actually curling away in a few places.

"Don't move, Wolf. Just stay there for a sec..."

"We need to get him up to the infirmary, now. We've gotta patch up those burns."

"How are we gonna carry him up three flights of stairs?"

"We might be able to... both... carry him..."

"In the dark? It'd be hard enough with all the lights on."

"I can walk myse-"

"Shut up, Wolf."

"We might just have to bring stuff down here. Have an expedition or something."

"That's not a bad idea. We can gather up a number of things in case anything else happens as well. Maybe get some water, too."

Wolf was struggling to sit up again.

"Wolf, lie _down_." Fox pressed a hand to his chest, pushing him back to the ground.

Falco got to his feet, dusting off his pants as he did so. "Alright, then. Fox, come with me – I'll need some extra hands to carry stuff down."

Fox nodded, standing up himself. He started to take a step towards his co-pilot when he was abruptly stopped by a tug on his jacket. He looked down to find Wolf staring up at him with pleading eyes, a small whimper escaping his throat. The vulpine's eyebrows furrowed a bit in worry before he glanced over at Falco helplessly.

Falco cocked an eyebrow, then gave a small sigh. "Fine, alright. Slippy, come with me. Fox, take this flashlight so we can each have one." He reached forward to hand the light source over to his friend.

Fox once more gave a little nod. Both Falco and Slippy then started back for the stairwell, Slippy in the lead since he was now in charge of the light.

Once he saw them both disappear up past the ceiling, he pointed his light back to the ground towards Wolf, who was still clutching onto the bottom of his jacket as if he never wanted to let go.

"Wolf... you can let go, now."

He felt the pull lessen, and soon Wolf's hand left, returning to its original position at his side. The lupine, however, didn't say anything.

Fox gave a sigh, scratching the top of his head, and then lowered himself to the ground, crossing his legs as he did so. He set the flashlight on the ground a short ways away, pointing it towards them so they could see.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Wolf's eye half-closed as he simply stared off into space and Fox just looking down at him.

"How do you feel?"

"Like shit."

Fox couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, that's certainly to be expected."

It took a few moments for the other to respond. "...I can't hear very well..."

Fox's expression filled with worry once more. "What do you mean?"

"...everything's kinda muted..."

At this, Fox didn't say anything, simply biting his lip as he looked down at his companion.

"My head's killing me too."

Fox continued to just sit for a few more minutes. Finally, a bit nervously at first, he reached over to grip Wolf under the armpits, dragging him gently towards him.

"Wh... what are you doing?"

He kept pulling him until he had the other canine's head in his lap, extending his own legs out in front of him to make it more comfortable for both of them.

"...oh..." Wolf gave a rather embarrassed smile, eye focused downward.

Fox bit down on his lip with a small chuckle. Saying nothing, he brought his hand to his mouth, licking the side of his thumb before lowering it and beginning to rub at the charred smudges on Wolf's face.

"Do I look that bad...?"

This was met with a grin. "Nah, you look great."

Wolf's body actually looked even worse now that he was seeing it up-close. Bits of his clothes had simply burned right off or gotten melted into his skin, especially around his knees which he'd been kneeling on. His skin itself was etched with gray and black burn marks. The blood that had come from his ears had started to become dry and crusty, making his fur stick out in small clumps, and the one eye looking up at him had a red tinge to it.

"Somehow I'm not believing that."

"Hey, trust me on this." But he couldn't keep the slight tremble out of his voice. He wet his thumb again, this time bringing it down just over Wolf's eye, trying to wash away a particularly charred spot.

"H-hey!" Wolf had to close his eye, instinctively pushing his head back into Fox's legs.

"Sorry, just let me..." Fox gave it a few more swipes before bringing his hand back. It really wasn't doing much. In fact, it almost seemed like it was making it worse – just moving the smudges around. He let out a sigh.

Finally, he let himself sit back a bit, leaning against the wall behind him. He kept looking down at Wolf, who was now peering up at him with an inquisitive eye. The sight actually made him chuckle again, and he brought his hand up this time to try and pat down some of the hair on his head.

"Your hair's sticking up."

He was having about as much luck with the hair as he'd had with the smudges, so he soon gave that up as well.

"I'm sure that's just wonderful."

Fox grinned. "Don't worry about it... it's cute."

Wolf's head turned down in embarrassment once more.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When the electricity had come on for a moment in the infirmary, it had scared the living daylights out of both Panther and Krystal. Krystal had just finished up cleaning Peppy's nose and had started applying the antiseptic, Panther having found an emergency lantern underneath one of the cupboards. Both just stood staring at each other, marveling at the re-emergence of the light.

Unfortunately, it hadn't lasted long. Almost as soon as it had come, it was gone again. The welling up of hope Krystal had felt upon seeing the light was quickly squandered, making her feel even worse than before if it was even possible.

"Well, that was certainly strange. Were they not able to keep the power going once they got it on?"

Krystal looked up from where she had returned to treating Peppy. "I'm... not sure. It really does seem strange, doesn't it? I was sure for a moment that everything was going to work again."

Panther was staring off in the direction of the door.

"I do hope they're alright..."

She paused for a moment, wondering exactly what the others were doing, but was soon back to Peppy. The old hare's nose was definitely broken. She had done her best to clean it up to avoid infection, but she wasn't sure how much blood he'd injested while unconscious. He also had started to develop a rather nasty-looking bruise across the entirety of his forehead, which particularly worried Krystal. She hoped that he hadn't incurred any cranial damage.

They'd gotten him to the infirmary without much trouble. Panther was definitely stronger than she'd first thought, and he was able to carry the rabbit in his arms easily. From there, it was just trying to wrack her brain to remember the exact way to the infirmary, as most of the trip had been done in total darkness. She was certainly glad she remembered that they kept an emergency lantern under the cupboard, though, since she wasn't even sure _how_ she would have been able to treat Peppy without any light.

She looked down at Peppy's scarred face, her own face falling a bit as she felt the smallest of tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"The old rabbit's a resilient fellow. I'm sure he'll pull through."

She glanced up in slight surprise, looking over at Panther who was now seated on the other patient chair. She gave a slight sigh, shifting her eyes to look down at the floor.

"I... I know... it's just... seeing him like this..."

Panther was about to make a comment concerning his thoughts on how Krystal's expertise and beauty could help heal anyone, but decided it wasn't entirely appropriate.

Turning to face Peppy, she ran a hand along the fur atop his head, smoothing his ears out that were now bent at a rather odd angle due to gravity. The dim light from the lantern was casting shadows across his face, and further back in the room it left a pale glow over the counters and shelves.

"Panther, do you think we'll get out of here?"

Panther looked a bit taken back by the question. "Why do you ask that?"

"If... if the electricity doesn't come back, there's no way for us to send out any kind of signal that we're here. Who's going to find us?"

He brought a hand up to scratch idly at the scar on his face. "I suppose you do have a point there... but you're certainly not ill-prepared to spend ample amounts of time here. I assume you've got plenty of food supplies."

Krystal pursed her lips. "Yes, yes, we do. We always keep everything stockpiled to last at least two weeks at a time. Although, that's just for the five of us. We do have three extra people now..."

"The East Quarter is less-trafficked, but it's not a ne're-used highway. Given the time we have, I'm sure that someone will come within range to detect the ship."

This eased Krystal's heart a little, but she still couldn't help but worry.

"She's not exactly a small ship. She'll show up on radar by anyone within the eastern half of the asteroid field."

"Yes... this is true."

Panther straightened out his gloves, smoothing down the back ends. "So you needn't worry at all. It's just a matter of waiting. Think of it as a vacation or something."

At this, Krystal gave a small chuckle. "Well, I wouldn't go that far."

A fairly comfortable silence followed, both just pondering the whole state of events they'd gotten themselves into. After a few minutes, Krystal walked to the other sid of the room to grab one of the rolling chairs that had probably been jolted to the side during the asteroid impact. She gently pushed it back over to the patient chair Peppy was located in, sitting down in it.

"Is there anything else we need to do for him?"

Krystal glanced over at Peppy. "Well, I'm... not really sure _what_ else I should do." She smoothed a lock of hair behind one of her ears. "I mean, if we had electricity, I might hook him up to a cathader or something... we'd be able to monitor him and have constant assurance on his vitals. As it is, we can't do much else besides watch over him for any changes."

Panther simply nodded, folding his hands across his stomach while leaning back in his chair.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?"

The voice came from outside. Krystal looked over at Panther in confusion.

"Of course I'm sure. I know this ship like the back of my hand!"

...

"This is the bathroom, you idiot!"

"Well... I do really have to go..."

"For Chrissake, give me that flashlight! _I'll_ find it."

Krystal couldn't help but bring a hand to her mouth in a chuckle.

"Look, I can see a light coming from right up there."

Panther shot Krystal a rather knowing grin. "I have a feeling we'll be receiving some company soon."

As if on cue, a beam of light was suddenly coming in from the door. Krystal had to shield her eyes as it swept across the room. "Turn it off! You're going to blind us all!"

"Gah, sorry." The light was extinguished, and once both Panther and Krystal's eyes became adjusted to the dimmer light, they could make out Falco standing in the doorway.

"How are things coming along up here?"

Krystal stood up from her chair. "Not too bad... Peppy's been cleaned up, and I've treated what I can of his nose. There's not a whole lot else that I can do for him, though..."

Falco had walked further in the room while she was talking, allowing Slippy to enter behind him.

"What was that surge of electricity earlier? It scared us out of our skins!" Panther was leaning forward now, holding up his head with his hand.

Falco and Slippy glanced at each other for a second. "That's, er... the main reason we're here. We need bandages, uh... antiseptic, burn ointment..."

Krystal immediately developed a pit in her stomach. "Who's hurt? What happened?"

Falco had to turn his eyes downward. "It's Wolf... he was electrocuted."

"Electrocuted? How?" Panther was sitting completely tense in his chair now. "Is he alright?"

Falco shuffled his feet. "Well, he's alive... not exactly in the best of conditions, though."

"We had some trouble getting the power back on... I should have looked at those wires before I had either of them look at it, I know. There... there must have been something wrong..." Slippy had his hands to his head, grimacing.

Krystal had moved from her place to stand by Falco. "Is he conscious? Up and talking?"

"He is _now_. Wasn't after he first got thrown against the wall..."

"Thrown against the wall?!" Panther was now on his feet. Falco took a step back instinctively at the intensity of the cat.

"You'll need to check for broken bones, fractures... who knows what could have been crushed. Have you done that?" Krystal was trying to keep the conversation on the right track.

"Well, not yet..." Falco looked around a bit sheepishly. "We haven't really checked him over at all yet... that's why we came up here: to get supplies. We didn't wanna move him."

"That was probably a good idea..." Krystal brought a hand to her chin. "I can get you plenty of things you might need." She glanced over towards the shelves. "I'll just need something... to put them in..."

Slippy's eyes lit up. "Here, use my hat." He plucked said object off of his head, offering it to the vixen.

"Oh, that should work fine." Krystal took it from him and made her way over to the shelves, starting to gather up anything she thought would be useful for them to have. The remaining three watched her as she moved from cupboard to cupboard.

Finally, Falco turned back to face Panther. "We need to get some water too... I'm trying to remember where we kept those big, seven-gallon jugs we've always had in case of emergencies..."

"Second-floor storage closet, third shelf." Krystal didn't even turn around from what she was doing.

Falco and Slippy turned to her in amazement.

"Wow... nice, Krystal." Falco chuckled.

Krystal deposited two sets of bandages into Slippy's hat. "Well, I figured that _someone _has to remember things like that. Even while we were still hauling them in there, I knew that none of you would remember their location even the very next day!"

"Ehhh, you do have a point." Falco ruffled the feathers on his head a bit sheepishly.

While Krystal continued to pack Slippy's hat, the other three went back to waiting in silence. The glow from the lamp was making their faces appear dark and shadowed, giving them slightly more forlorn looks than they already had.

Slippy was idly poking his two index fingers together as he waited, shifting his weight from his heels to his toes and back again. He let his eyes wander to trace the outer edges of where the light hit the wall, sometimes traveling all the way down to the floor and other times encompassing the entire part of the ceiling. After his eyes passed over the light-switch, he couldn't help but suddenly notice the second rectangular shape next to it.

It wasn't something he hadn't seen before, no. In fact, he checked it fairly regularly. It was the pressure gauge. They had one in most of the rooms. It really wasn't necessary to check it that often, as the Great Fox was a sturdy ship and wasn't one to spring random leaks out of nowhere. But being the rather anal person that he was about things like this, he enjoyed making sure that everything on the ship was in ship-shape.

That was probably the reason why he noticed something a bit different about it now, even in the low light. He tried to ignore it at first, focusing instead on the way Panther's tail kept flicking back and forth against the chair behind him. His eyes, however, tended to betray him, and soon he was looking at it again... and still, there seemed something off about it.

He walked away from his position by Falco until he'd made it to the wall, wanting to get closer to the gauge. Unfortunately, his position in front of it blocked the light from the lantern, so he had to move a bit to the side to let the light hit it.

And that was when he felt his heart sink into his stomach.

"Guys... uh... I think you all should see this."

Both Falco and Panther immediately turned their heads to the frog. Even Krystal, sensing the urgency in his voice, looked away from the shelves.

"What is it, Slip?" Falco scratched the side of his neck.

Slippy turned around to face them, eyes wide-open as if he'd seen a ghost. "It's the pressure gauge."

"Pressure gauge?" Panther seemed slightly confused.

Falco's body had gone completely rigid, his eyes boring holes through Slippy's head. "What's wrong the pressure gauge?" The intensity in his voice was almost frightening.

"It's... half-way down."

"Half-way down?! What the hell?" Falco was over by Slippy in an instant, checking the gauge for himself. "We... do we have a leak?"

Slippy's voice was trembling now. "I-I don't know. That's the only thing I can think of if the pressure's gone down this much... I..." His mouth continued moving but no sounds came out.

"What exactly does it mean if the pressure's that low?" Krystal had her hand gripped tightly around the arm of Peppy's chair, having walked closer to where her teammates stood.

"It means we're losing air, that's what." Falco was massaging his temples. "About half the supply, too."

"I... I can't tell how fast it's going down. We could, I mean... maybe we're lucky and we simply lost that when the asteroid hit, so now it's stuck there."

"Slippy, you don't lose half a ship's supply of air that fast."

Slippy was practically crying now. "I-I know, I just thought... I just..."

"Alright, alright, everyone just calm down for a second. Breathe, Slippy." Krystal had her hands out in front of her, looking back and forth towards each person in the room.

Slippy gave a long, shaky breath, attempting to stifle his sobs. A small hiccup escaped his mouth.

"Is there anyway we can find out exactly why the pressure is so low?"

Falco was leaning over a bit, his hands hooked around his belt. "We'd have to search the ship. The only thing I can think of for it to be is a leak... and a fairly large one at that."

"Ok... is there anything we can do to _fix_ a leak?"

Falco and Slippy glanced at each other once more. "Well, it depends on the size. Normally if we were to get a leak like this, we'd simply pull into to the nearest space dock... get it fixed up."

"S'not really possible now, though..." Slippy gave a small sniff.

"It's not exactly recommended practice to fix a leak while flying in space."

Krystal was rubbing the sides of her arms absent-mindedly. "I understand that, but we don't really have a choice. We're going to have to do what we can."

"Yeah..."

Falco scratched the side of his head. "We haven't even checked out what the lower levels of the ship look like yet. Who knows what it's like down there."

By now, Krystal had started pacing. Her small steps sounded surprisingly loud against the blanket of total silence surrounding them. "We'll need to check that out then. My guess is that's where the leak is, and if we're going to have any hope of getting out of here, that's got to be our first priority."

Falco nodded slowly, Slippy bringing a hand up to wipe under his nose.

"Slippy, you know this ship better than anyone else here besides ROB, but he's not exactly in commission right now. If there's anyone who can find the leak, I know you can."

"I...I'll try..."

Falco reached over to squeeze the frog's shoulder. "Don't worry, Slip. I'll go with ya."

Slippy smiled up at him through tearful eyes. "Thanks, Falco."

Krystal bit her lip, still deep in thought. With a start, she suddenly popped her head up. "Oh, we have another flashlight." She began making her way towards one of the far cupboards. "We just needed the lantern, so we didn't even bother getting out the other flashlight we found. I'm sure it will help you two."

"That's great! It's kinda hard getting around with just one light, let _alone_ try to search for something."

Opening the door, Krystal pulled out the yellow flashlight, then walking over to place it in Slippy's hand.

"I know you can do it, Slippy."

Slippy gave a small sigh, but was able to form a smile on his face, even if it was a rather sad one. "Thanks, Krystal."

"Alright then, let's go. Who knows how fast that pressure gauge is falling." Falco turned his flashlight on, walking back towards the door.

"W-wait up!" Slippy ran at a quick jog to catch up, soon falling into stride behind the bird. A moment later, he'd turned on his own flashlight.

Krystal watched after them for a few minutes until she saw their lights disappear around a corner. Once they were completely gone, she let her eyes fall to the ground, bringing her hands up to rub at her temples. She clenched her eyes shut.

Panther, who hadn't said much of anything during the entire conversation, looked back towards the vixen now. He chewed silently on his lower lip, all of a sudden feeling a bit awkward.

"Krystal..."

A small hitch could be heard in her breath, but she didn't answer. Her body was hunched forward a bit, shoulders tensed. She seemed like a completely different person from the confident pilot he'd seen earlier.

He extended a hand towards her, about to take a step. "Krystal, are yo-"

"I'm fine. Just... fine... thank you, Panther."

He stopped his movement, still just looking at her.

"I... I think I need to get something to eat."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After having waited for a little over an hour, Fox was beginning to question whether his teammates were coming back. He kept looking towards the stairs, hoping to hear the clanging that would denote someone's descent, or hear their voices echoing down from above.

But no one was coming.

What the hell were those two doing? Sure, it was dark, but it still shouldn't take _that_ long to get to the infirmary and back. Especially since both Panther and Krystal were there.

His eyes narrowed a bit. He wasn't really sure whether to be concerned or angry.

Wolf had fallen asleep in his lap about half an hour ago. The lupine looked particularly serene like that, even with his fur all in disarray. Fox had almost fallen asleep a few times as well, his head sinking downwards a few times before he popped it back up quickly. He hadn't thought he was all that tired before, but after turning the flashlight off to save the batteries, it was all he could do to keep his eyes open.

He was beginning to wonder whether he should try to go find his teammates or not, but he couldn't just leave Wolf here. And yet, carrying him up three flights of steps would be almost impossible by himself...

He brought a hand up to scratch behind one of his ears.

Boy, what he wouldn't do for a nice steak right now. He practically started salivating at the thought. In fact, just about _anything_ would have been pretty nice right now. He was starting to realize how hungry he was. Plus, Wolf still needed medical attention. He really needed to do something.

Giving a little sigh, he raised his hand to gently trace a finger across Wolf's forehead.

"Hey..."

The lupine showed no signs of waking.

"Wolf, wake up."

He slowly moved his hand up to begin scratching behind the other's ear. Wolf's nose started twitching, and pretty soon his tongue was lolling out, tiny whimpers escaping his throat.

"Come oooon... wake up..."

Wolf was practically panting now. "Only if you... keep doing that..."

Fox couldn't help but grin, biting down on his bottom lip. He continued the scratching for a few more minutes, highly amused at the pleasure his companion was getting from it. Finally, he let his hand start moving away, now simply rubbing softly along the side of his chin.

Wolf opened his eye to look up at him through the darkness, a soft smile spread across his face.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"I don't think our expedition team is coming back."

Wolf's face fell slightly. "What happened?"

Looking up towards the stairwell again, Fox furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm not sure... it's been over an hour now, though."

Wolf brought his arm up to scratch his nose with the back of his hand, making sure to be careful and avoid the section where the skin had been burned off. "That's kinda weird..."

"I mean, they know that we're waiting down here." Fox was now chewing on the inside of his cheek. Finally, he huffed out a sigh. "At this rate, I'm beginning to think we should just go up there ourselves."

There was no reply.

"I don't know if I can carry you that whole way, though."

"I can walk myself."

Fox frowned slightly. "I don't thi-"

"I'm fine, really. I can... do it myself..." He was struggling to sit up now. He got himself to an upright position, grimacing a bit. "Piece of... cake..."

"Wolf, don't push yourself so hard." Fox reached forward, about to rest his hands on the older canine's shoulders, but he'd already begun trying to stand up.

Wolf gave a little grunt as he lifted himself onto his feet. Almost immediately, though, his right leg gave out and he fell back onto his knees with a thud. He let out a strangled cry as tears sprang to his eyes.

"Wolf!" Fox darted forward, bringing an arm around the other's shoulders.

Wolf now had his teeth clenched together, trying his absolute best not to let the tears fall. "My... my leg..." He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Is it broken?"

"I don't... know..."

Fox began pushing Wolf's upper body backwards, holding him up with his arm. With the other, he ever so gently worked at getting Wolf's leg out from under him. He winced everytime he heard Wolf let out a small yip.

"Alright, that's obviously not gonna work, Wolf."

Again, there was no reply, this time Wolf simply looking down at his leg, his face still strained from the pain.

"I'm gonna have to carry you."

It took a few moments, but Wolf finally gave a small nod.

"You'll need to hold the light, though."

Another nod.

Fox reached over, stretching his arm so that he could reach the flashlight without letting go of Wolf. Once his fingers closed around it, he clicked it on, enjoying the feeling of being able to see more clearly again. He handed it to Wolf, who took it, albeit reluctantly.

"Mmkay, I'll need you to grab around my neck, that way I can lift you up off the floor." He moved over until he was kneeling in front of Wolf. He waited until he felt the other's arms grip him tightly, and then he began to stand up, swinging his arms back to grab a hold of Wolf's legs as he made his way up.

"That wasn't too hard now, was it?"

He shifted a bit, trying to get a better hold of Wolf so he wouldn't drop him. The other canine wasn't as heavy as he thought he'd be, but he definitely wasn't light.

"I'm not hurting anything, am I?"

"No."

He felt Wolf begin to relax, resting his head against his back.

"Remember, you're in charge of the light."

"Oh yeah."

The beam of the light moved up with a start, focusing in front of them. Fox could see the wall a short distance away, a mess of tubing connected to one side.

"Point it more towards the right – the stairs are in that direction."

The light moved along the wall quickly, missing the stairs at first. With a slight stop, it began moving backwards until it the stairwell was right in the middle of it.

"Thanks."

And with that, Fox was off. It was rather slow-going, neither one could lie about that, but at least they were getting somewhere. He had to adjust his grip around Wolf's legs a number of times as he would slip lower, and each time he did, he would worry he'd knock his leg or something. Wolf never made a peep though, so he couldn't ever be sure.

Despite the obstacles, it didn't take them too long to reach the stairs. Of course, Fox had to remind himself that _this_ was the part that was the real challenge.

"Can you point that light up the stairs for me?"

The stairs lit up as the beam danced across it.

"Are you sure you can do this, Fox?"

"Hey, I'm not the leader of Star Fox for nothin'."

"What does that have to do with carrying someone up three flights of stairs?"

"Just work with me, Wolf."

Gritting his teeth, he began the arduous task of climbing the stairs. He actually made it up the first half-flight without too much trouble. They'd reached the platform where the stairs began in the other direction, so Fox stopped to catch his breath. He let his head fall down almost to his chest, feeling his lungs working overtime to take in the much-needed air.

"...you doin' alright?"

"Psh, yeah. I've got this licked."

Upon reaching the next platform, he was definitely starting to feel it in his legs. His upper thighs were already burning, his knees not able to hold himself quite as high anymore. His heart felt like it was beating right through his chest.

"You're sure about this?"

"No... problem..." This was said between large intakes of air.

"We've only gone up one flight."

"Stop focusing on the... negative..."

It took them considerably longer to get up to the next platform. Fox was feeling it through his whole body now. He leaned forward slightly, eyes clenched shut. He focused solely on breathing. In and out. In and out.

"Fox, maybe we should stop an-"

"No." Fox shifted Wolf's weight in his arms once more. "I'll never... be able to get back up again... if I don't do it now..."

He began up the next staircase, his legs shaking horribly with each step. He gave a little grunt, pushing himself up, one after the other. Sweat was falling down into his eyes, and he couldn't do anything about it. One step after another. One step after another.

His foot caught on one of the steps.

Falling forward with a clang, he felt the stairs come at him with a horrifying crunch. His right shoulder took the brunt of the fall, his body instantly curling up as the pain wracked through his side. Wolf let out a surprised cry, followed by a rather anguished groan, next to him. He was clutching his right leg, eye clenched shut.

Fox tried to move over to help him, but his body wasn't responding very well. The pain coupled with his already aching muscles had practically rendered him motionless, and all he could do was grit his teeth, trying to right himself with the world once more. He mentally began cursing just about everything he could, ranging from the creator of this staircase to even himself, for not having known they were going to get hit by an asteroid. Why did he feel so helpless?

All he wanted to do was close his eyes and cry.

A sudden light flashed into both of their faces, causing Fox to cry out with a start.

"Well, isn't this a sorry sight to see the two leading mercenaries in the Lylat system in."

Fox opened his eyes wide in surprise, straining against the light. "Leon?!"

The chameleon simply gave a little smirk, cocking his head to the side in amusement.


	2. Part 2

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Finding Time

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

-Part 2-

Falco and Slippy had scoured the entire third floor for any sign of leakage without any luck. Falco was beginning to become a bit irate, with Slippy merely looking more and more dejected. The one good thing, however, was that at least meant all of the third floor was still intact, including the kitchen and their rooms.

When they had both found each other once more after splitting up to search the last couple of rooms, Falco suggested that they head downstairs.

"You know... I just thought of this, but... why don't we check the docking bay?"

"Slippy..."

"There's a chance... that... that it's still intact, right?"

"Slippy, the asteroid scraped across the bottom of the ship. The _bottom_."

"But there's a cha-"

"You're just gonna get your hopes up, Slippy. Stop it."

The frog hung his head dejectedly, his flashlight pointing at the floor.

"Though... it wouldn't hurt to check around that area, I suppose. The emergency doors there should negate any leaks beyond them, but if part of the door or walls around it got affected in any way, we might find the cause of our leak."

Slippy couldn't help but look up a bit hopefully towards Falco, though the bird had already started off for the staircase. He quickly gave a little jog in order to catch up, falling in stride behind the other.

They descended the stairs briskly, walking around in darkness practically second-nature to them now. The addition of the second flashlight made it easier as well. Once on the second floor, they started off for the other end of the ship, feeling the floor below them slowly angle downwards. It didn't take them long before they were standing in front of the emergency door in question.

"It... it _looks_ fine... Falco..."

Had it not been for the complete darkness around them, in fact, they might have been able to assume there was nothing even wrong with the ship!

Falco took a small step forward, reaching his hand out. He gently placed it against the door, his eyes narrowing.

"It's cold."

Slippy stepped forward now as well, feeling it for himself. "Cripes!" He took his hand away.

"Yeah, that's not a good sign."

Slippy frowned, chewing the inside of his cheek. "Well... maybe it's just... maybe with the heat off, it got colder in there... faster..."

Falco just cocked an eyebrow at his companion.

"...maybe..."

With a sigh, the bird stepped back from the door, glancing around. "You don't hear anything, do you?"

Both of them were quiet, straining their ears.

"...no."

Falco brought a hand up to massage his temple. "Yeah, me neither. Where is that damn leaking coming from? I don't understand! The door looks sturdy enough..."

Slippy bounced his flashlight up and down a bit in his hand. "It could be coming from below us somewhere... down in the framing area."

"But I thought we had enough plates around the frame. Weren't they supposed to keep leaks from occurring in times like this?"

"Well, y-yeah... but... I mean... that asteroid did hit us pretty hard, and it wasn't a direct hit. That's what those plates were manufactured to protect us against. The way it was sliding... it... it could have scraped some of them clean off..."

Falco bit his lip. "So in other words, we wouldn't have any way to reach a leak like that."

"...yeah."

He was silent for a few more moments, eyes glaring down in front of him. With a bit of a start, he'd suddenly kicked his foot fiercely into the side of the wall, teeth clenched in a grimace.

"Dammit!"

Slippy watched him, not saying anything.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Each curse was punctuated by another kick.

He stopped then, bending over to rest his hands on his knees. He had his eyes closed, breathing heavily. Slippy's flashlight was focused towards the ground.

"...well, we should probably head back upstairs and tell the others."

Neither one moved.

"...yeah."

It took a few more moments before Falco finally righted himself, his shoulders shrugging back in a rather defeated gesture. He looked to the ceiling first, before focusing back towards the hallway.

"Alright, let's go."

He began walking back the way they had come, flashlight wobbling a bit uncertainly in his hand. The sound of his boots on the hard floor sounded particularly haunting as it bounced off the walls around them.

Slippy turned his head back to look at the door in front of him, his eyes gazing a bit longingly. Their ships could be beyond that door, just waiting for them to find them. They were so close, and yet a million miles seemed to be between them. The controls for the emergency door jutted out from the side of the wall as if taunting him.

"Slip, you comin'?"

He quickly turned to see Falco shining his flashlight back at him.

"Y-yeah, wait up!"

He darted forward to catch up with his teammate.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Krystal's teeth cut through the skin of the apple she was holding with a loud crunch, pulling a big chunk of it off before she began chewing rather forcefully. She was seated at one of the tables in the kitchen, the lantern from the infirmary situated in the middle of it. Panther sat across from her, watching as she feasted on the fruit.

"This... tastes delicious..." She took another bite.

With the electricity gone, some of the food in their walk-in fridge had already started to sour, making it a bit unwise to eat anything from inside. Fortunately, their pantry was still fairly well-stocked, including the two crates of fruit that Krystal had insisted they buy last time they'd made port.

There was a small shower of juice as she continued to eat the apple, almost a bit ferociously. In only about four more bites, the entire apple was chewed down to the core. She placed it onto the table and was quickly on her feet, on her way back to the pantry. After a moment or two, she reappeared around the door once more, this time carrying a box of cheese crackers.

The light from the lantern wasn't quite able to illuminate the entire kitchen, as it expanded out a bit more than the infirmary had, but it was enough to make their food choices in the pantry mostly readable. The counters off to the side were still shrouded in darkness, appearing a bit spooky to anyone at the tables.

As Krystal sat back down in her seat, she was already opening the box, reaching down inside it and pulling out a handful of crackers. Panther continued to simply watch her as she began practically stuffing her face full, only stopping long enough to chew what was in her mouth before reaching back in to grab some more.

"The crackers aren't going anywhere, Krystal." He gave a small chuckle.

She looked up at him, turning away from the box in her hands. Her chewing slowed as she swallowed a particularly large chunk.

And then all of a sudden she was crying. He mouth spread apart in a grimace, eyes almost clenched shut as sobs began to wrack her body.

Panther, not having expected this reaction, was a bit taken back. His mouth moved up and down, though no sounds came out, and his fingers were twitching uncertainly.

"Krystal, I, uh..."

"Panther, I don't want to die!"

Her face was positively soaked by now, the tears running from her eyes like water. Her shoulders were shaking as she gripped the box of crackers in her lap.

Panther's face was etched with concern, though he couldn't help but feel slightly awkward. His typical, regal attitude was gone, leaving him unsure of what exactly he should do. He'd never felt so lost, especially when talking with a woman.

"You... you don't..."

She looked up at him, eyes glistening as tears continued to fall. Somehow, nothing that he could say seemed right.

He gave a small sigh before finally scooting himself up off his chair, taking the few steps to the other side of the table and sliding in beside Krystal. Without a word, he brought his arm up to rest across her shoulders, and she instinctively let herself lean in to his chest, her body still shaking with sobs. He began rubbing the side of her arm in reassurance as she cried into the fabric of his clothes.

"Thank you, Panther..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wolf gave a small wince as Fox stretched the cloth bandage across his hand, threading it between his fingers. He felt tears spring to the corner of his eye, but he ground his teeth together, doing his best to keep them from falling. Once he got to the end of the cloth, Fox reached his hand out to the left, Leon handing him the piece of tape he'd just ripped off the roll. He pressed the tape securely over the cloth, though still trying to be careful and not irritate the skin under it too much.

Once that hand had been bandaged, he picked up a second strip of cloth and began the entire process over again with the other hand.

Wolf was sitting stiffly in the vacant chair in the infirmary, his leg propped up along the footrest Fox had sprung out. After having made it up the stairs with Leon's help, it didn't take them long to get here, finding the room empty save for Peppy's unconscious body in the other chair. It left both him and Fox a bit uneasy, now not knowing where _any_ of the others were, but there wasn't a whole lot they could do about it yet.

He gave a rather startled yip as Fox hit a sensitive spot on his hand, instinctively drawing it in a bit.

"Sorry, sorry!" Fox bit his lip in concern before coercing Wolf's hand back out to where he could finish the wrapping. Beside him, Leon held one of the flashlights up so he could see what he was doing, the other pointed upwards in the middle of the room to offer even more light.

Upon finishing, Fox set Wolf's hand down gently, rocking back on his heels a bit.

"Christ, Wolf, I think it's gonna take more than a dry-clean to fix _this _up." Leon was shining the flashlight up and down Wolf's body.

"Thanks for the stunning observation, Mr. Helpful." Wolf rolled his eyes upward.

"We _are_ gonna need to get some of the clothes off your skin. That can't be the healthiest thing..." Fox was silently chewing on his finger again. "I just... don't wanna risk irritating anything any more."

Leon pointed the flashlight back towards Fox's face. "We could probably just cut his pants off above the knees. They look the worst anyway."

There was a slow nod from the vulpine. "Yeah... and we'll get his vest off too."

They were silent for a moment before Fox turned around to try and find a pair of scissors, Leon moving forward to begin easing Wolf's vest over his arms. Wolf, in turn, watched the two of them a bit nervously, trying to keep in anymore outward signs of pain as the material of his vest scraped across his arms.

Fox returned fairly quickly with the scissors and leaned over towards Wolf's propped-up leg, a slight tremble in his breath as he found an already burned-through hole in the fabric and inserted the blade inside. As carefully as he could, he began cutting away at the pants, holding his breath to steady himself.

By this point, Leon was done removing the vest, so he placed it off to the side in a heap. Deciding it would probably be best if Wolf had something to lean on, he found the button on the side of the chair that lifted up the back, holding onto it so it wouldn't pop up too quickly. Bringing the tip of his tail to the lupine's forehead, he slowly pushed him backwards until he was now lying back in the chair.

With the bottom half of his pants now cut off, Fox was able to see not only the burns better, but also Wolf's right leg, which had swelled up horribly and had turned a rather dark shade of purple and brown.

"How's it look down there?" Wolf's voice had a slightly nervous ring to it.

"It looks... fine. Not too bad at all." Fox cringed.

"Yeah, if you're a masochist." Leon was hissing through his teeth.

"I _heard_ that."

Fox brought a hand up to ruffle through his hair uncertainly, letting his eyes close for a second. "Ok, well..."

"We should make a splint."

"Splint, yeah." He began swinging his head around the room, his eyes searching what they could see through the light from the flashlight. "We need something..."

Leon held up a magazine that had been haphazardly left on one of the shelves at some point in the past.

"That'll work."

The magazine passed from one hand to the other, and Fox was soon holding it, rolling and unrolling it a bit shakily in his hands. He clicked his tongue absent-mindedly. As he gazed down at Wolf's leg, he let one end of the magazine tap against his mouth. "We should wrap it first."

Setting the magazine down, he picked up one of the wider bandages that had, for some reason, been sitting on the counter in Slippy's hat. He gingerly brought one hand down to feel along the top of Wolf's knee, said owner of knee giving a sharp intake of air at the contact. Fox wasn't sure if it was from the pain of the burn or the pain of the break.

"Alright, Wolf... this might hurt a little bit, kay?"

Wolf's worried eye was gazing back at him from his spot in the chair. Leon had walked up to stand beside him, his hands clasped behind his back.

As Fox brought his hands down with the bandage, he just hoped to God that he was gonna do this right.

He'd barely started pulling the bandage around the knee joint and already Wolf's entire body had gone tense, his hands gripped so tight around the armrests of the chair that his knuckles had gone white under their wrappings. Fox was pulling it fairly tight, wanting to make sure the bones stayed well in place given that his knee-cap could very well have been completely crushed.

By the time he'd worked the bandage down over the lower part of his leg, Wolf was half-leaning forward in the chair, tiny whimpers coming from his throat.

"That hurt a little bit, boss?" Leon couldn't help the small smirk that had spread across his face.

Wolf cracked his eye open, glaring at his co-pilot. "No, it feels like a nice _massage YES IT HURTS._" He grit his teeth, part of his last statement cut-off by a rather unmanly squeak.

Leon brought his tail up, sliding it across Wolf's chest while slowly pushing him back into the chair. "Let's try to stay back there, so you don't completely screw Fox up."

"I'm almost done... almost done..." Fox was attempting to reassure him, but it wasn't working too well. "Alright, that part's done." He held out his hand as he'd done before, Leon quickly pulling off a piece of tape so that the vulpine could secure it.

Upon its completion, Fox reached over to grab the magazine he'd set down earlier, rolling it back up in his hands. Leon handed him another piece of tape so he could fasten the magazine in its cylindrical shape.

With a slightly worried glance, he looked back towards Wolf, who had finally startled to calm down. "Ok, yeah... this might hurt too."

Wolf whimpered.

Upon handing the magazine to Leon, he grabbed the last bandage he had sitting next to him, then waited as the chameleon positioned the magazine against the side of Wolf's knee. Bringing his hands down once more, he began wrapping the bandage around again, this time including the magazine with it.

It didn't take as long to get this one done, but by the time they'd finished, Wolf had tear-streaks along the side of his face and was breathing in heavy, raspy gasps.

"I fucking hate you two."

"Aww, don't say that when we love _you_ so much." Leon waggled a finger in front of the other's face. Wolf made a move as if to bite it, causing the chameleon to draw back with a laugh.

"Well, I think that's all we'll do for now, at least." Fox ran a hand across his forehead. "Especially since my hands are shaking like no other."

"So now what? We wait for the others to come back?" Leon was leaning back against the side of the chair.

"I'd say that's probably our best plan... since we don't exactly know where they are at the moment."

"I'm thirsty."

"Yeah, I know, Wolf..." Fox bit his lip. "But... I don't really want us to get even more split up than we already are."

There was a sigh from the chair.

"Once the others come back, we'll have an expedition to get some water or something."

Leon had already moved a short ways away and was now sitting down, leaning back against the wall. Fox glanced in his direction, realizing just how tired he was getting as well. Scratching the side of his neck, he walked over to the same wall, letting himself fall back against it with a small thump before slowly sliding to the floor.

He leaned his head back, letting his eyes come to a close. It felt so good to be off of his feet. He brought his arms up to rest on the tops of his knees, giving a little sigh of relief.

"I'm cold."

Fox's eye twitched. Looking back over towards the chair, he couldn't help the small grimace.

"Foooox..."

Grumbling slightly under his breath, he pushed himself back to his feet, pulling away from the wall and making his way back over to his 'patient'. Once he was standing over him, he let his head tilt downwards a bit abruptly, an exasperated look on his face.

Wolf looked back up at him a bit nervously. "Hi, Fox."

Without a word, Fox began slipping the jacket off his shoulders, flinging it out a bit in his hands. He leaned forward to lay it across Wolf's chest, the older canine's eyes following him the entire time. When he was done, he started walking back to the wall.

But was stopped with a start when met with an all-too familiar feeling.

He glanced down to find Wolf's fingers latched onto his belt. He couldn't help the small smile that formed as he turned back towards the chair, bringing a hand up to idly scratch under his chin.

"Is this gonna be a routine now?"

Wolf didn't say anything, actually looking away towards the wall as he chewed on his lip a bit shamefully.

"So what... you wanna come sit with me?"

Wolf continued to remain silent.

"Alright, well I can't make any guarantees that it won't hurt on the way over." Fox ambled his way over to the chair, reaching his arms down to grasp Wolf under the armpits and begin lifting him up. Upon lifting him high enough, he pulled him into his chest so the other could reach around his neck, then eased him clear off the chair.

Wolf gave a small hiss as his leg came off the chair and swung to the floor, but surprisingly, nothing else. Fox could feel his whole body tense up, though.

Readjusting his grip to keep the other from falling, he began making his way back to the wall, albeit a bit awkwardly. Once there, he again let himself slowly lower to the floor, turning Wolf around as he did so and positioning his head in his lap.

Wolf immediately snuggled his head into Fox's stomach, Fox, in turn, bringing a hand up to readjust his jacket that had all but fallen off on the way over. He shook his head in amusement, letting a grin spread across his face.

Finally sitting down for good this time, Fox let himself lean against the wall once more, his eyes fluttering close. It didn't take long for both of them to fall fast asleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Krystal was still sniffling slightly as both she and Panther made their way back to the infirmary. Panther's arm remained around her shoulders, his other arm holding up the lantern in front of them so they could see. They walked slowly, the feline not wanting to upset her any more.

They had just rounded the corner and stepped into the hallway where the infirmary was located when they were met with the light from two other flashlights bouncing off the walls.

Panther came to a stop. "That didn't take you two very long."

Falco and Slippy took a step towards them, both being careful not to shine their flashlights directly at their other two companions. "We weren't able to find the leak..."

"Then perhaps we don't have one?" There was a glimmer of hope in Krystal's voice, even as it still trembled slightly from crying.

The other two Star Fox members glanced at each other nervously. Slippy scratched at the side of his cheek. "Well... we think it might be down in the main frame of the ship..."

"It's the only explanation."

Krystal's face fell even more, though it was hard to see in the dim light. "R-right..."

"What about the docking bay? Have you checked there?" Panther glanced worriedly at the blue vixen, afraid she might begin crying once more.

Falco cringed. "...we're pretty sure we lost at least a good chunk of it."

Slippy didn't say anything.

"I guess that would make sense..." Panther gave Krystal's arm a reassuring squeeze.

There were a few moments of silence, none of them wanting to voice how hopeless their situation seemed. At this point, it seemed like there was nothing at all they could do except wait for the inevitable.

With a bit of a start, Falco's head suddenly shot up. "Oh _shit!_ We completely forgot about Fox and Wolf!"

Slippy's eyes opened wide at this realization, his mouth agape. "They're still down in the engine room!"

"C'mon, we need to get that stuff down to them." Falco walked the few steps towards the infirmary, shining his flashlight towards the counter as he walked inside, Slippy close on his heels. "W... what happened to the supplies?"

Both pilots just stopped and stared at the now empty counter, Slippy's hat mysteriously missing along with all its contents.

"I think you two may be off the hook." Panther's voice came from behind them, a touch of amusement emanating from it. Turning around, they saw him holding the lantern in front of himself, the light from it revealing the bodies of their comrades asleep against the wall.

Slippy ran a hand across his forehead, giving a sigh of relief. "Thank _God_."

"I feel ya." Falco felt the tension leave his muscles, glad that something was finally going right for once. "And it looks like our lizard-friend has finally snapped himself out of it as well."

Panther walked forward and set the lantern on the vacant chair, letting it light up a good portion of the room, before walking back to the wall near the door and sitting down against it. Falco couldn't help but notice that it only took a few moments for Krystal to follow him, letting herself ease into a sitting position as well.

"We're finally all back together..." Slippy took a seat next to the lantern on the chair, letting the muscles in his shoulders relax.

"Indeed. It certainly feels better to see that everyone's alright." Panther raised his arm up, Krystal letting herself slide underneath, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Falco took this opportunity to seat himself as well, slowly lowering himself next to the cabinets and using them as a headrest. "I wonder what time it is..."

Panther glanced over at him. "It feels like it's been days since the asteroid hit us."

"Yeah..." Falco adjusted one of his sleeves, scratching the inside of his wrist. "God, I still can't believe this happened to us."

There was a small murmur of agreement from both Panther and Slippy.

"I feel like... I just... why isn't there anything we can do?"

Slippy lowered his head, his hands gripping the side of the chair. He'd never seen Falco so dejected before – he was the one who usually had all the answers, the one who stayed calm under pressure, the one who could make him laugh in even the tightest of circumstances. Seeing him like this... it only made him feel worse. If Falco had given up hope, did that mean they really had none?

He didn't want to die.

He glanced over at the pressure gauge. He hadn't looked at it since he and Falco had gone off to find the leak. He was rather nervous to see where it might be now. From what he could tell, it hadn't moved down all that much. It was lower than half-way now, but only by a few centimeters. He felt his heart ease a bit at this – maybe they had more time than he thought.

"I say we all get some rest. At this point, it's basically a waiting game anyway. With two people out of commission, the rest of us have to keep our strength up." Panther had settled himself a bit more comfortably against the wall. It appeared that Krystal had already fallen asleep on his shoulder.

Falco nodded at him from across the room, his arms now crossed across his chest. Slippy remained still for a few more moments before bringing his legs up over the side of the chair, letting himself settle down into it. Before he let himself get completely comfortable, however, he reached his hand over to click off the lantern, the room around him settling into darkness. He blinked a few times, gazing up towards the ceiling as he rested his head against the back of the chair, knowing that he really wasn't going to get any sleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Krystal was the first one to wake up some time later, or at least she assumed so, given that the light was still off, and she sensed no movement coming from any of the others around her. She felt Panther's arm around her and looked up through the darkness to see his head leaning back against the wall, mouth slightly open as he breathed slowly.

She bit her lip, letting her eyes fall to the ground. She needed to get out of this cramped position as her back was beginning to hurt her.

After waiting a few more minutes, perhaps to see if anyone else would wake up, she finally decided that she just had to move. Gently, she let herself start leaning forward, pushing herself up onto her feet. Looking back to see that she hadn't woken Panther, she gave him the slightest pat on the head, smiling a bit when he gave a small snort in his sleep.

Once fully on her feet, she stretched her arms out above her head with a yawn. She was surprised how much she could see given that her eyes had become so adjusted to darkness. She could make out the shapes of most of her comrades around the room, though their bodies weren't much more than amorphous blobs.

She ran a hand through her hair, which she knew must have been a mess, not quite sure what to do now that she _was_ up. She gave a depressed sigh, many of the weighted thoughts and feelings from before beginning to well up inside her again, that feeling of hopelessness ever lingering in the pit of her stomach.

Bringing her hands up to rub her upper arms idly, she began walking over to the chair she'd put Peppy in earlier. It had been a while since she'd checked on him, so it would probably be a good idea to see how he was doing. She slowly let her feet slide in front of her as she walked, able to feel the side of the chair with her feet so she wouldn't run into it.

In the almost non-existent light, it was impossible to tell much about him besides the fact that he was _there_, so she reached her arm out towards the other chair where she knew the lantern to be. After feeling around a bit, she bumped it with her hand, picking it up and pulling it in close. She didn't really want to turn it on for fear of waking of the others, but there wasn't much she could do without light.

Holding her breath, she clicked the lantern on, watching as the dim light filled the room. She glanced around instinctively, her eyes falling on each of her teammates in turn. They were all still fast asleep.

Turning back to Peppy, she placed the lantern on the rolling chair she'd been sitting on not too long ago. Ever so gently, she ran a hand across the hare's head, smoothing out his ears. He felt so cold.

Her eyes narrowing a bit, she placed a hand on his chest, trying to find his heartbeat. She didn't feel anything. Her own heart began to beat a bit faster as she then lowered her head to see if she could feel him breathing. Again, there was nothing.

She felt her heart sink into her gut. No, this couldn't be happening. She checked for a heartbeat again, hoping that she'd perhaps just missed it. Still, it was silent.

No, no, no. The tears were already beginning to well up in her eyes once more. She leaned in close, patting Peppy's shoulder as if waking him from a mid-morning nap.

"Peppy? Peppy, please wake up."

What was she doing? There was no heartbeat. No breathing.

"Peppy...?" Her throat was practically clenched shut, her voice coming out in a slight squeak. She couldn't believe this... _wouldn't_ believe this. She gave him a small shake, in her mind seeing his eyes opening, his familiar, gruff voice asking her what the big deal was. He was just taking a nap.

"Peppy..." She lowered her head until their foreheads touched, her eyes now closed as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her body shook slightly as she took in a raspy breath of air.

After a few moments she let herself back away, gazing down at the rabbit's body through teary eyes. She brought a hand up to wipe her cheeks, suddenly worried about the others seeing her like this. She had to be strong... had to be...

"Krystal...?"

She almost jumped at the voice, her heart pounding in her chest. Turning her head towards the sound, she found Fox looking at up her from his position on the floor.

"Oh, Fox, you're awake." She tried her best to smile, hoping that it wouldn't come out too forced. She wondered how much he had seen.

He let out a small yawn, his eyes closing for a moment. Upon opening them again, he glanced around the room, taking in the sight of everyone else scattered about.

"It seems everyone's back."

Krystal nodded. "We all came back a little while ago... Panther and I were in the kitchen."

"Ah."

There was a slightly awkward silence as Fox chewed on the inside of his lip, now simply staring straight ahead. Krystal brought her hand up to wipe at her eyes once more, hoping that all evidence of her tears had disappeared.

When Fox glanced back up, she saw his eyes move over to Peppy's form in the chair before returning to her. "How's Peppy doing?"

A slight hitch formed in her throat as she looked down at the rabbit, not able to look into Fox's inquiring eyes. "He's..." Her eyes strained a bit. "He's..." Fox was still looking at her, his eyes wide and inquisitive. "He's doing... fairly well... he's still unconscious, but... I think he'll... he'll be fine..." Her voice practically disappeared, the last words coming out as barely a whisper.

She saw Fox give a little sigh of relief, his shoulders relaxing. "Well, that's certainly good to hear... I was beginning to think _nothing_ was going right anymore..."

You don't know the half of it, Fox.

"A-anyway, how's Wolf?" She gestured down towards the figure located in his lap, anxious to turn the conversation away from Peppy. She also passed over the obvious question regarding _why_ said lupine was lying in his lap.

Fox glanced downwards, attempting to calm down a stray piece of hair on top of the other's head without much luck. "I think he's doing alright... obviously he's going to need more help than we can get him here, but we're doing everything we can for him." He pursed his lips worriedly.

Krystal brought a hand up to scratch the side of her nose, her eyes scanning along Wolf's sleeping form. "You found all the bandages I'd gotten together, right?"

"Mm." Fox nodded.

"Slippy and Falco had meant to bring them down to you, but after seeing the pressure gauge, we felt it was important to look for leaks."

Fox's eyes widened in surprise. "Pressure gauge? What?"

Krystal took in a startled breath. That was right – he didn't know yet. "The... the pressure gauge. It's halfway down."

The vulpine was now staring straight ahead, barely moving. His expression was one of fear, his breathing already starting to accelerate.

"We... Falco and Slippy looked... though they couldn't find any leaks. They said it was probably down in the ship's frame." She was clenching her hands a bit nervously now.

Fox's eyes closed tightly for a moment, his head tilted in towards his chest. He opened them finally to glance down at Wolf, then turning his head to the side. He brought a finger to his mouth and began chewing on it softly, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"I know that's probably not the news you wanted to hear..."

"It's... it's ok, Krystal." He turned back towards her, forcing a smile similar to the one she'd given him before. "We can lick this. Star Fox has gotten out of worse jams in the past."

Krystal's eyes fell as she simply clenched her hand against the fabric of Peppy's chair.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Slippy woke up, a quick glance around told him that he'd been the only one still asleep for some time. Wolf was sitting along the wall, now wearing Fox's jacket, but most of the others were standing up. The lupine had the sleeves unrolled, practically overtaking his arms, which made Slippy understand why Fox actually _did _keep the sleeves rolled up – they were at least two inches longer than the tips of his fingers. A huge jug of water sat in the middle of the room, along with a few boxes that seemed to contain food. They must have made a supply trip.

A bit groggily, he pushed himself up with his arms, letting his shoulders slump forward as he righted himself. With one hand, he attempted to wipe the sleep out of his eyes, making his vision a bit clearer.

"Hey, Slippy."

He looked up at the sound of Fox's voice, finding the vulpine standing against the wall next to Wolf.

"Hey..."

He let his eyes roam the room once more as a few of them turned towards him. Seeing them all like this... a part of him was glad and yet, that familiar feeling from before was still eating away at him, making him feel almost nauseous.

There was a sudden feeling on his head, and he glanced up in surprise, finding the brim of his hat now staring back at him.

"Here's your hat back." Falco gave him a small grin before patting his newly-covered head.

"Thanks, Falco..." He tried to smile. Really, he did.

"Yeah."

After a few minutes, Falco made his way back over to the middle of the room, picking up a can of mandarin oranges from the box as he did so. He then moved over towards Fox, still working at getting the can open.

Wolf glanced up at him from his position on the floor, squinting his eye. "Hey Panther, can you get me another glass of water?" He gestured forward with his arm.

"Panther? Did I sprout a furry tail while I wasn't looking?" Falco gave the lupine a confused look.

Wolf's eye widened in surprise. "Shit, I'm sorry." He brought a hand up to rub at it. "Must not have seen you clearly..."

Falco continued to look confused, but turned around to head for the water jug anyway. Panther, however, had already started filling up a glass and was on his way over with it.

"Here, boss."

"...thanks." Wolf took it without looking up, his tail flicking a bit absent-mindedly.

Across the room, Slippy finally slid himself off of the chair, making his own way to the jug for a glass of water. He hadn't realized how dry his throat had become. He took a styrofoam cup from the stack and set it down on the ground, then moving his hands to take a hold of the jug. Pulling upwards, he realized quickly that this wasn't going to be quite as easy as he'd first thought. He gave a little grunt, the jug not moving at all in his grip.

After a few tugs with no luck, he was about to give up when he suddenly felt the jug start lifting in his hands. He glanced up with a start to find Leon gripping the other side, tipping the entire thing forward enough that a stream of water came from the top to fall in his cup.

"Thanks..."

Leon didn't respond, simply glancing at him from narrowed eyes, and then resumed his position leaning against the wall a short ways away.

Slippy shuffled his feet a bit awkwardly, finally bringing the cup to his mouth to take a drink. Words could not describe how amazing the water tasted.

The rest of those standing about the room weren't doing much of anything. Panther had now seated himself on the rolling chair, scooting back towards a wall, however, so he wouldn't be in the way. Fox continued to lean against the far wall, now watching Falco eat the can of oranges with semi-amusement. Leon was stoically staring at the ground in front of him, his tail slowly curling and uncurling. Krystal was kneeling in front of the box of food, her fingers idly pulling boxes forward as if looking for something, though Slippy guessed that she wasn't actually browsing for anything to eat.

Had the situation been different, he might have laughed. They looked like they were doing something as innocent as waiting for a meeting to start, or kicking back during some off-time on Corneria. His eyes glanced over towards the pressure gauge which had slipped about a quarter of the way down from where it had been before. Slippy felt his stomach tighten, suddenly not feeling too well.

He felt a rather urgent need to get away. He couldn't see them like this. Something about it just made his head seem to split apart.

Walking past both chairs towards one of the far corners of the room, he sat himself down between the wall and the shelves. It was much darker back here, the light from the lantern barely reaching. He held the cup of water between his legs, gazing down at the reflection it made. This was better.

Krystal finally stood up from the food box, taking a few steps away, her eyes now gazing ahead towards the wall a bit unfocused. She brought a hand to her head to massage her temple, licking her lips tiredly.

"I really need to use the restroom."

A few of the others glanced up at her, though no one said anything. Running a hand through her head, she walked over to the counter where they'd collected all their flashlights together, picking one up to take with her. Once she'd walked outside into the hallway, she switched it on. A bright, yellowish circle appeared on the wall in front of her.

It didn't take long to reach the bathrooms, and that was even while walking slowly. She pushed open the door, not even bothering to lock it behind her. Inside, she pointed her light towards the toilet seat, heaving a heavy sigh.

She didn't really have to go.

Without saying a word, she crept over to the corner of the room, letting her body slide down until she was seated on the hard, tiled floor. She turned the flashlight off, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

She couldn't let the others see her cry.

Face dipped down into her legs, she gratefully let the tears come again. She let everything that had happened so far rush up to her, overwhelming her, shaking her. It was almost too much. She inhaled sharply, hearing the anguished sob that escaped her lips and bringing her hands to her mouth quickly. The tears now ran freely down her face and over her hands, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. Her legs curled in as far as they would go, almost to the point of hurting, her tail wrapped around her midsection.

Peppy's cold face loomed in her mind, staring at her. She could see him right there in front of her. If she reached forward, she could feel his cold skin against her hand. It sickened her. Another choked cry came from her throat, causing a second influx of tears as she tried to quiet it.

There was a knock at the door.

Her body immediately tensed in fear, her heart racing, but she couldn't stop the tears now. She was too far gone.

Another knock.

"Krystal?"

She tried opening her mouth to respond, but couldn't make any words out. Her nose was running horribly, and she tried to wipe at it with her arm, but it didn't do any good.

There was a small creak, and the door slid open. Panther stuck his head inside, aiming a flashlight around the walls of the room until it came upon Krystal's shivering form.

"Krystal, are you ok?"

Her shoulders heaved. "I'm fine. Go away."

Panther came all the way into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. "Krystal, that obviously isn't true."

Krystal didn't respond to this, simply lowering her head back into her legs, practically wrapping herself up into a ball.

The feline walked slowly over, kneeling down beside her and placing a hand on her back. No sooner had he done this when Krystal flung herself into his arms, burying her head into his shoulder. Knocked clearly off balance, he fell backwards onto his rear, wincing slightly.

"Peppy... Peppy's dead..."

Panther's eyes widened as he brought his arms around to hold her smaller form, rubbing her back.

"He's _dead_?"

This instigated a fresh wave of sobs from Krystal, whose hands were now clutching the front of his clothing. His shoulder was becoming quite wet.

"How did he... when did...?"

Panther knew she wouldn't answer now, but he was asking as much to himself as he was to her anyway. He still couldn't really register the fact that the old hare was dead. How had none of them noticed?

He had just begun to think about how Peppy had looked the last time he'd glanced at him when he felt a pair of lips suddenly on his own. He instinctively pulled back, snapped out of his reverie.

"...Krystal?!"

But she was on him again, her arms now around his neck. She kissed him through her sobs, pushing forward with everything she had.

As much as Panther wanted to continue what she had started, he just couldn't do it. Flailing a bit at first from the weight being pushed down on him, he found her shoulders with his hands and pushed her off.

"Krystal, _stop_."

She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes, her hands still raised slightly in front of her.

"This isn't like you."

She bit her lip, feeling another influx of tears come on. "I... I..." She clenched her eyes shut, bringing her hands down to grip the fabric of her pants tightly. "I'm so sorry..."

Panther reached forward almost immediately to wrap his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. He held her as she continued to cry, her sobs now coming out a bit choked from the tears that had gotten lodged in her throat.

"Stop trying to be so strong, Krystal." He brought one of his hands up to run through her hair, gently caressing her head. "Stop trying to be so strong."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Fox, I'm hungry."

Fox snapped out of the trance he'd been in at the sound of the voice, looking down to his right to find Wolf staring up at him. Scratching idly at one of his ears, he shifted his weight so he wasn't leaning against the wall quite so heavily.

"You weren't hungry when we first got the food, but you're hungry _now_?"

Wolf chewed on his bottom lip while furrowing his eyebrows, giving off a rather pouty look.

Fox gave a little sigh, a mixture of exasperation and amusement, but finally pushed himself away from the wall entirely. "Fine, fine... what do you want?"

"I want those oranges that Falco had."

"The mandarin oranges?" Fox cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"I'll see if we have anymore." He trudged his way back to the middle of the room, kneeling down by the box. Both Falco and Leon were watching him from their positions against the wall, simply having nothing else to do. After rummaging through the box for a few seconds, he found the can he was looking for and pulled it out. "Well, hey, it's your lucky day! There's one left."

Standing up, he raised the can for Wolf to see and then tossed it gently over.

Only to have it hit Wolf square in the shoulder.

"Yeouch!" Wolf brought his hand up to grasp his shoulder, his body instinctively curling up a bit.

"Well, geez! Maybe if you'd even _tried_ to catch it-"

"It was too dark to see, ok?"

"Wolf, this is the lightest part of the room."

"W-well, I'm just tired, is all. Where the hell did that stupid can go?"

"It's by your leg."

Wolf grabbed it a bit ferociously, still slightly hunched over. "I knew that. I just hadn't grabbed it yet."

Fox made his way back over to the wall, watching as Wolf struggled to open the can, his bandaged hands not only having absolutely zero grip, but also being too bulky to even grasp the lid top with any success. It didn't help that Wolf kept getting more and more frustrated with it, grumbling under his breath.

The vulpine simply shook his head, giving the other a pathetic smile before crouching down beside him.

"Here." He held out his hand.

Wolf stopped pulling at the can, eyeing Fox a bit ruefully.

"Give the can to me, Wolf."

Giving a little sigh, he finally handed the can over. Fox immediately popped the lid off with ease, tossing it to the ground beside him. He reached his hand inside it, quickly becoming soaked from the juice, and pulled out one of the small orange-pieces.

"Alright, open your mouth."

"What?" Wolf's voice raised a few octaves.

"Open. Your. Mouth."

He simply stared at the other for a second, not quite comprehending what had been said. Finally, Fox reached over with the orange and held it in front of his face.

Wolf gave a low sigh, his eye narrowing slightly. "I can't believe I'm doing this." Ever so slowly, he opened his mouth, his canines poking out from beneath his top lip. Fox rewarded him by placing the orange inside.

"Good _boy_!"

Wolf shot him a look of hate, but didn't say anything as he munched away on the orange.

As this entire escapade had been going on, neither one noticed as Falco got up from his place against the wall and moved across the room to rest near Leon, the chameleon sitting almost motionless with his arms across his chest.

"Enjoying the show?"

Leon made no move save for his tail curling up faster than usual, lifting itself off the floor in a bemused manner. "Indeed."

On the other side of the room, Fox had another orange in front of Wolf's face, this time not having nearly as much wait before it was placed in his mouth. Fox appeared to be having way too much fun.

"You... you don't think...?"

Leon turned his head slightly to look at Falco, simply raising an eyebrow. "I don't _think_ – I _know._" He repositioned himself slightly against the wall, bringing both hands up to cross over his stomach. "And I'm not at all surprised, either. I've been suspecting it for over three years now."

Falco glanced back towards the two canines. Now Fox was waving an orange-piece around in the air. Wolf was eying him like he was crazy, but continued opening his mouth every time.

"Do you get along with Wolf?"

Leon cocked his head. "Hm? Do I get along with him?" He shrugged his shoulders. "We get along well enough. We have our differences, don't always see eye-to-eye... but I wouldn't say that we don't get along."

Falco rested his arms on his knees.

"I must say though, that he's great fun to irk off."

This caused the bird to chuckle, scratching the underside of his chin. "I definitely know _that_ feeling."

There was silence for a few moments as they continued to watch their glorious leaders play their game of airplane.

"Why do you ask, anyway?"

Falco gave his shoulders a little shrug. "Meh, just wondering."

Leon glanced over at him. "Not getting along with Fox?"

"Oh, no, no. We get along fine." There was a small pause. "Eh, forget I even asked."

Now it was Leon's turn to shrug his shoulders again. "Suit yourself."

Falco sighed, closing his eyes a bit as he rested his head back. After a few minutes, he had to squirm a bit in his spot as his rear had already started to fall asleep. He sat up a little bit higher, stretching his legs out in front of him.

Turning to his left, he saw Slippy sitting in the far corner and cocked an eyebrow.

"Hey Slip, somebody put you in time out or somethin'?"

There was no response from the frog.

"Sliiippy..."

He continued to sit there, staring down at his cup of water. It looked like his mouth was moving slightly.

"_Slippy!_"

He finally jolted upright a bit, apparently having been snapped out of his trance. His head turned as he glanced around the room, eyes finally landing on Falco.

"Huh? What is it, Falco?"

His eyes were wide-open, making him look strangely innocent and yet slightly disturbing at the same time.

"Err..." Feeling slightly put-off, Falco didn't really know what to say anymore. "Nothing, nothing. Just seein' that you were ok."

"I'm fine, Falco." He smiled, closing his eyes. "Just a bit tired, is all."

Falco didn't move for a moment, but finally lowered his head slowly in a nod. "...right."

Across the room, Wolf was now practically biting the oranges out of Fox's hand.

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It was some time later before Panther and Krystal made their way back to the infirmary, Panther holding her hand silently. The two walked over to the same wall they'd been sitting against before, sliding down until they were resting comfortably. Krystal now automatically let her head come down on Panther's shoulder.

Leon had fallen asleep, or at least, that's what Falco assumed he was doing. His eyes were shut with his head leaning down on his chest. He was completely motionless, though, not even looking like he was breathing.

Falco was starting to get restless. He could only stay in one spot for so long. Across the room, both Wolf and Fox were now just sitting along the wall, Fox with his arms up and resting on his knees, Wolf in a position similar to Leon, only with his broken leg jutting straight out in front of him in what looked like a rather uncomfortable angle.

Feeling slightly mischievous, he reached over to the top of the counter next to him, his hand splayed out and searching. Finally finding what he was looking for, he grabbed one of the flashlights and pulled it down.

"Hey Fox, guess what this is."

He turned the flashlight on, aiming it at a nearby wall, before putting his other hand in front of it in the shape of a bunny.

Fox rolled his eyes. "Oh, I don't know... a bunny?"

Falco chuckled slightly. "Nooope... it's a _horny_ bunny." He began making humping motions with his hand.

"Oh, that's _real_ mature, Falco."

"Ok, ok, what's... _this_?"

"...a duck?"

"Nope! It's a yawning goose."

"What?! How would anyone guess that?"

"Fine, fine, easier one... ok... _this_."

"Uhh... a dead... dog?"

"Oooh, close. Very close. It's General Pepper."

Fox couldn't resist the laugh that rose up in his throat.

"Yeesh, that light is bright. You put it on super-high or somethin'?" Wolf had apparently woken up from his short nap.

Falco shone the flashlight over in the lupine's face, watching as he instantly brought both hands up to cover his eye in pain.

"S... stop that!"

"I'm pretty sure there's no 'super-high' level on a common, household flashlight, Wolf."

Wolf had practically curled in on himself. "Well, you did _something_. Stop flashing that thing in my face."

"Falco, stop for a sec." Fox waved his hand towards the bird, who finally pointed the flashlight away. "Wolf... _Wolf_. Look at me." He snapped his fingers.

Wolf finally brought his hands away, looking over at Fox a bit nervously.

"Wolf, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three. Duh." Wolf rolled his eye upward.

"Falco, hold up a number."

Falco gave him a rather confused look, but finally held up his hand, splaying out all five of his fingers.

"Wolf, how many fingers is Falco holding up?"

Wolf glanced over, squinting his eye. "That's easy. It's... it's..." His eye was practically closed. "Four?"

Fox grabbed Wolf by the jacket, pulling him in close. He looked closely at his eye, his own eyes narrowed. "Falco, can you roll me over that flashlight?"

By this time, everyone else in the room was focusing their attention on what was being played out, even Leon, who had woken up at some point. Falco fidgeted nervously before leaning forward to gently roll the flashlight across the floor.

Fox jerked Wolf down so that his head was lying in his lap, the other giving a surprised yelp, before reaching over to grab the flashlight. With one hand holding the lupine's chin in place, he turned the flashlight on and shone it straight down into his face.

Wolf immediately closed his eye, trying to turn his head away. He struggled to get out of his confines, kicking his good leg out.

"Wolf, stop squirming. Open your eye."

"No."

"_Wolf._"

"It _hurts_."

Fox bit his lip. "Fine, fine, I'll point it a short ways away." He angled the flashlight so it wasn't pointed directly at the other's face.

A bit tentatively at first, Wolf finally opened his eye, looking shakily up at Fox. Fox, in turn, lifted Wolf's head up a bit with his hand, his eyes narrowed as he peered down.

"What is it, Fox?" Falco was leaning forward from the wall, gripping his knees with his hands. Next to him, Leon was sitting up now as well, though his arms were still across his chest.

"... there's... some sort of weird, white spot..."

"Well, it's not like it hurts or anything." Wolf had already turned his head away, obviously embarrassed. He buried the side of his face into Fox's leg.

"Wolf, you couldn't even see Falco's hand."

"It was too dark over there, is all. I don't have very good night vision."

A rather pained expression formed on Fox's face as he looked down at him, not saying anything. He gently brought a hand up and placed it on the side of Wolf's head.

"Fox..." Falco's expression fell, the muscles around his eyes tightening.

Tears had already begun to form in Wolf's eye as he brought his arms up to wrap around Fox's leg, pulling himself in tightly. Fox simply began running his hand through the other's hair, his throat sticking as he tried to swallow.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They'd turned the light off again, most of them deciding they were tired enough to try and get some more sleep. The pressure gauge was down halfway now. For Krystal, it felt like some kind of bomb – slowly and steadily falling while they sat here helpless, waiting for it to go off. All it needed was some kind of ticking noise.

She couldn't fall asleep. All she kept thinking about was the gauge. And Peppy. Which then led her to think about Panther, whose chest she was currently snuggled against. Thoughts continuously circling in her head, swirling around, none of them staying with her long as another one overtook it.

It was starting to drive her crazy. She felt like if she opened her mouth, it would all come tumbling out, nothing she could do to stop it. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes constantly, but she'd become so used to it that keeping them in now was almost routine.

Was this really how she was going to die? How she was going to spend the last days of her life?

She buried her head deeper into Panther's chest, enjoying the protective feeling it was giving her, even while the thoughts in her head threatened to overtake her. She didn't want to feel what it was like to die. She didn't want to just sit around as her breath became shallower and shallower, finally unable to breathe at all.

She clenched her eyes shut, body shaking slightly. She was so scared, yet there was nothing she could do.

It was the sound of someone getting up that snapped her out of her reverie. She'd become so accustomed to the absolute silence around them that even the tiniest sound seemed raucous. She immediately opened her eyes, but didn't move for a second, still just listening.

Yes, someone was clearly up now, and walking through the room. She could hear the footsteps across the hard floor, heard the small clanking sound as the flashlights on the counter were shifted through, heard the sound of breathing get closer to her as whoever it was made their way to the door.

Who was it? Where were they going?

Her first thought was that they were simply using the restroom. It made sense. What else _would_ anyone be doing?

And yet... there was a strange feeling in her stomach. Something she couldn't quite place.

She waited until she heard the footsteps exit the door before she began moving herself, slowly pulling away from Panther. She held her breath as she moved, hoping not to wake the feline, and finally was able to push herself to her feet.

"Krystal?"

Her heart almost jumped out of her chest as she instantly froze. She darted her eyes around, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Krystal, it's me. Falco."

She saw a dark shape across the side of the room slowly rise up and felt herself begin calming down.

"Did you see him too?"

"Who was it?" Her whispered voice came out a bit shaky.

"Slippy. He was sitting just a short ways away from me."

She shifted her feet, rubbing the sides of her arms. "...where was he going?"

"I have no idea."

They were silent for a moment.

"Guys, what's going on?" This time the voice came from the other wall. Both of them turned their heads towards the sound, coming to the conclusion that it must be Fox.

"Slippy left."

"What? Why'd he leave?"

Falco had started to pick his way carefully over to the center of the room, now not too far from Krystal. "We don't know. I wanna go check it out, though."

Their whispered voices sounded harsh against the silent atmosphere of the room.

"Give me a sec, I'll come too."

There was the sound of something shifting, and then a pair of boots sliding on the floor. A tiny murmur made its way through the darkness, followed by a soft whisper that Krystal couldn't hear clearly. It took a few moments, and then she was finally able to see a form rise up across the room, starting to make its way over.

"Slippy's been actin' kinda weird lately..." Falco paused. "I just wanna make sure everything's alright."

He stepped over towards the counters, his hand searching, until he picked up the two remaining flashlights. Keeping one for himself, he handed the other to Krystal once he'd made his way back. The three of them then stepped out the door, two yellow orbs of light quickly appearing on the wall.

"Do you think he just went to the restroom?" Krystal flashed her light around the hallway, not seeing anyone.

"He might have..."

They were silent for a few moments, just taking a few steps outward as their lights scoured the hallway.

"Do you want me to go che-"

"Wait, wait, shhh..." Falco held his hand up and all three of them quickly hushed. There was the faintest sound of footsteps coming from a short ways away. "This way." He beckoned them with his hand.

They made their way as quickly as they could down the hall, Falco leading. Their circle of light offered them a view of their surroundings as they passed by a number of doors, finally coming to a stop in front of the staircase. The three of them gathered around it.

"Downstairs? What would he need to do downstairs?" Fox's perplexed face could just barely be made out through the glow of the light.

Falco felt his heartbeat start to accelerate, his mouth suddenly rather dry. "Come on, let's head down."

Not nearly as worried about making noise anymore, they were almost up to a normal walking pace as they made their way down the stairs, Falco not even bothering to use the handrail. Upon making it to the second floor, he stepped off, walking a short ways out into the new hallway.

"Why'd you stop here?"

He didn't answer, just started walking down the hall. The two vulpines glanced at each other before taking off after him, Krystal shining her light ahead as well.

It was when Falco could see the soft glow of a light up ahead that he became even more nervous, and he walked faster, almost running down the hall. His flashlight was shaking in his hand, causing the orb of light to wobble uncertainly.

"Slippy!"

The frog turned around, startled, now in the center of both Falco and Krystal's beams of light. His eyes were wide open, staring at them.

"Slippy, what the hell are you doing?" All of them stood frozen.

"I'm... I'm saving us, Falco."

"Slippy, you can't open that door."

All eyes now turned to the emergency door in question, both Fox and Krystal now realizing exactly what was going on.

"Shit, Slippy! Don't open that!" Fox's voice had risen a few octaves.

Slippy's eyes traveled back and forth across each of their faces, almost a bit wild looking.

"It's the only way we're gonna get out of here. Don't you see that?"

"Slippy, if you open that door, we're all gonna die." Fox had actually stepped forward now, holding out his hand.

Slippy instinctively took a step towards the door, staring at Fox as if he'd never seen him before in his life.

"Slippy, you should know better than anyone what would happen if you open that door." Krystal felt herself start to shake, barely even breathing.

Slippy looked like a wild animal caught in a trap, his head jerking about as he continued staring at them. "Why doesn't anyone understand? _Why doesn't anyone understand?_"

Fox was trying to keep himself calm. "Understand what, Slippy?"

Tears were springing to the frog's eyes. "Everyone's just sitting up there waiting to die. It's like no one even cares. Why aren't we doing anything?"

"There's nothing we _can_ do!" Krystal felt a sob rising in the back of her throat.

"_Yes, there_ _IS_! Our way to freedom is through here. It's the only thing we can do!" He was pointing wildly towards the door, the flashlight in his other hand waving erratically.

Fox had his hands out in front of him in a calming gesture. "Slippy... Slippy, _listen. To me._" He was starting to inch his way towards his co-pilot. "Think about it for a second. You open that door and all the air in here will go rushing out. The emergency door closed for a reason."

"_Stop it! Stop it, get back!_" Slippy backed up again, his back now almost touching the door. "_Don't come any closer!_"

Fox immediately stopped, his heart practically beating through his chest.

"_Please_, Slippy!" Krystal's voice came out as an anguished cry.

Slippy was looking at her, his mouth agape as his breathing quickened. All of a sudden, he was grabbing the top of his head, eyes clenched shut as he began shaking. "No, no, no!" Tears were running down his cheeks. "I'm not gonna let everyone die!"

He was at the controls for the door instantly, his fingers nimbly entering in the code to open it. Fox gave out a shocked cry, starting to dart forward, but he knew it was too late. He watched helplessly as Slippy keyed in the last number, his finger wavering over the input button.

A shot rang through the air.

Slippy's fingers stopped moving

There was a sickening gurgle, and then Slippy's body simply slumped to the ground, his legs splaying out beneath him.

There were no sounds. There was no movement. Fox felt his heart stop, eyes fixated on the frog's still form. The flashlight he'd been holding had rolled slowly away, tracing a small circle before coming to a halt.

Both Fox and Krystal slowly turned their heads towards Falco, who stood with his blaster raised in from of him, his entire body shaking. A thin stream of smoke was exuding from the end of the gun's barrel.

"He was gonna open the door."

Fox couldn't even say anything. Something seemed to have happened to his voice box. Falco's eyes were wide open, his breathing becoming louder as he struggled to take air in through his throat.

"He was gonna open the door."

Krystal was the first to move. She quickly jogged over to where Slippy lay on the floor, kneeling down beside him. With one look, she knew she didn't have to check for a heartbeat. The shot had gone straight through his head, blood beginning to pool beneath him as it fell, unrestrained, to the floor. His eyes continued to stare straight ahead, unseeing.

"He was gonna open the door."

Fox walked over to Falco, lightly touching his shoulder. The bird almost jumped out of his skin, eyes turning to Fox but not really seeing him. He lowered his hands, still holding the blaster in front of him. He was breathing in short, shallow gasps.

"He's dead." Krystal's voice came out surprisingly warble-free. Her hands were clutching the fabric of her pants as she stared down, not able to free her eyes from the sight in front of her.

Fox put his arm around Falco's shoulder, attempting to pull him closer. His co-pilot remained completely unresponsive, his body still shaking. He got both arms around him now, bringing him into a strained embrace.

"He was gonna open the door."

"I know, Falco." Fox felt his breath catch in his throat. "I know."


	3. Part 3

Finally, the third and final part. Sorry for the delay – I got most of it written and then had to start working 14-hour days at the Emergency Operations Center thanks to major flooding. Couldn't do much besides work and sleep for a while.

Anyways, I just wanna say that this story has changed so much ever since I first started thinking about it. In fact, it kept changing up until I had most of it written, surprisingly enough. I don't think I've ever had an idea change so much, especially after I've begun writing it. I must say that it certainly made it more exciting for me as well, ahaha.

Also, thank you to everyone who's been reading! I hope that you've enjoyed it... if you can even use that term with a story like this.

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Finding Time

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-Part 3-

Leon was the first one to notice when the air around them was beginning to thin, in fact, he could almost pinpoint the exact moment when he first sensed it. He'd breathed in a perfectly fine breath of air one moment, and in the next one, he'd had to breathe in slightly more in order to achieve the same effect.

It was starting.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the others or not. They already looked dejected enough as it was – all of them sitting around the walls of the infirmary, heads lowered as they stared off into space. At this point, it probably wouldn't even have been worth it. They all knew it was going to happen eventually... why know any sooner than they had to?

Slippy and Peppy were both dead. The faces of the Star Fox team as they came back into the infirmary carrying Slippy's body still haunted in the recesses of his mind. It hadn't been long after that that Krystal had come out to tell them of Peppy's death as well. The blue vixen seemed to be taking the deaths the hardest of all. He'd watched as Panther had taken her into his arms to console her. Were they not on a ship doomed to suffocation, he might have actually felt happy for his co-pilot.

Falco hadn't said a single word since they'd come back. He sat against the wall, staring straight ahead. His eyes seemed to gaze off into nothingness, completely unresponsive.

Leon didn't want to ask what exactly had transpired down on the second floor.

He was already starting to slow his breathing. He'd spent enough time in his life having to calm himself down in intense moments or quiet himself when he needed to be completely silent that controlling both his breath and heart rate had become little more than an exercise. Hell, he could even stop his heart altogether if he wanted, though he'd obviously never gone that far before. He wasn't sure exactly how much time they had left before the entire ship would become inhabitable, but he might be able to lengthen that time just a bit.

"Hey Leon, you awake?" The whisper came from across the room.

He raised his eyes up from where he'd been staring at the floor, flicking his tail. "Mm."

"Could you look after Wolf for a little while? I need to go do something."

He pursed his lips. "I suppose."

He saw the shadowed outline of a body rising up across from him, slowly stepping out towards the middle of the room and into the light.

"Thanks. It shouldn't take all that long."

Leon didn't say anything, merely shrugging himself forward onto his feet. He watched as Fox headed over to the counter to retrieve a flashlight as he made his way across the room. Letting his head fall slightly, he glanced down at the sleeping form now in front of him.

He looked so pathetic like that.

With a little sigh, he sat himself down against the wall near the Star Wolf leader's head. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched Fox leave the room, heading off to an unbeknownst destination elsewhere in the ship.

It didn't take him long to settle back into his old position, leaning back with his arms over his chest, knees bent slightly while his tail wrapped itself in a neat circle beneath them. Nobody else had even looked up during their whole transaction – either in their own little worlds or, perhaps, sleeping. Leon couldn't tell which in some cases.

He'd sat there about five minutes when he sensed a shift in the form next to him.

"Foooox..."

He didn't move. "Sorry, wrong species."

There was a pause, and Leon guessed that he was now rather confused.

"Oh. Hey Leon."

"Don't sound so excited to see me." He glanced down to see Wolf rubbing the area above his eye lethargically.

The lupine was silent again for a few moments.

"Where'd Fox go?"

"Not really sure... had to step out for a bit." He gave a small smirk, even though he knew the other couldn't see him. "Don't worry. I'm sure your pillow will be back shortly."

This prompted another moment of silence, Leon not sure whether Wolf was more embarrassed or put-off by the statement.

"How's your eye doing, anyway?"

Wolf fidgeted down on the floor. "It's fine."

Leon would have rolled his eyes if it even made any difference in the darkness. "How's your _sight_?"

There was a sigh from the canine next to him. "Everything's just really dark... and kinda fuzzy too."

Leon was staring across the room now, eyes a bit unfocused. "That's just what we need, you know? We go from having a leader with no depth perception to one who's practically blind." He said it with a chuckle, softly biting his lip. "Now all we need is for Panther to get paralyzed and me to develop a deathly fear of wide, open spaces and we'll be the system's first special-needs mercenary team."

This instigated a laugh from Wolf. It felt good to laugh. They could forget about the slim-to-none chance they had of making if off the ship alive.

Leon took this opportunity to curl his tail in a tighter coil, shifting it to the side and slipping it under the other's head. He felt Wolf relax and settle into it, obviously relieved to have his head off the cold, hard floor.

"Hey, Leon?"

"Hm?"

"I've been a good leader... haven't I?"

Leon leaned his head back against the wall, letting his eyes travel up towards the ceiling. "I wouldn't have wanted to fly under anyone else."

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Fox made his way down the hallway rather slowly. He felt no need to quicken his pace, and indeed, he wasn't much in the mood for anything faster than a listless walk. He held the flashlight loose in his hand, keeping it just high enough to give him enough light to see what was ahead of him. His footsteps were barely audible against the stillness of space around him.

His path eventually took him past the kitchen and into their living quarter, another hallway branching out with a number of doors lined along it. He shone his flashlight down, lighting up each one in turn before continuing his journey in that same direction.

He paused for a moment when he reached Slippy's door, a catch forming in his throat. Once he was able to tear his eyes away from it, he got himself the few steps further to his own room, reaching his hand out a bit tentatively to grasp the handle.

Upon pushing the door open and stepping into the room, he shone his flashlight inside, the familiar sense of returning home rising to his senses. Everything was the way he'd left it. Not that he could imagine why it wouldn't be, but for once it seemed as if he'd been offered some form of solace after his recent, repeated heartbreaks.

He let the door close behind him as he walked all the way to the center, the beam of his flashlight slowly traveling across all his belongings. His desk was as messy as ever: a number of papers strewn about, that coffee mug still half-full that Peppy had been harping on him about, the three letters he'd been meaning to read for over two weeks now... The bed was still a disaster as well, the covers having been put on a bit hastily with the pillows bunched up haphazardly at the top.

It was to this bed that he now made his way over to. After a few steps, he let himself fall backwards onto it, feeling it sink slightly beneath his weight. He sat there for a few moments, his breath coming out as a hushed tremor. When he sat here like this, he could almost just imagine that there was nothing wrong – that they _weren't_ trapped like mice, slowly awaiting their own deaths. In fact, he could almost take his mind back to just a morning ago, telling himself that he'd just woken up from a peaceful night's sleep and was ready to take on the new day that awaited him.

After a few minutes, he let his shoulders sink slightly, then reached forward to grab for something beneath the bed. When his fingers came in contact with it, he pulled it towards him, hoisting it up onto his lap. The small book stared back at him from beneath its navy-blue exterior.

He couldn't open it at first, still just staring at its cover. He let one of his hands run silently over it, feeling its glossy surface under his fingers. When he reached the edge of the book, he let himself finally grip the edge, pulling the cover back and stretching out the binding.

The book was full of mementos, photos and other scraps that helped to immortalize his life – things that he'd picked up along the way... things that brought back memories of various things he'd done, people he'd met, experiences he'd had.

The first photo in the book was one of Star Fox. He immediately felt his eyes begin tightening. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

But no, this was the last time he'd be able to do this. The last time he'd be able to collect his thoughts, relive parts of his life, cherish the friends he'd made along the years...

The picture had been taken after the defeat of Andross, all of them looking exuberant and full of excitement. He actually gave a little chuckle – Peppy looked so young here. Then again, they _all_ did. Had it really been that long? He could barely comprehend it.

The next page had his graduation portrait on it. He looked so regal and stiff wearing that academy uniform... it's no wonder he'd tried to avoid wearing it all through school. On the same page was a much more informal picture, though still from graduation day. He and Bill were grinning like small children, Bill with his arm around his shoulders, both of them giving semi-mock salutes towards the camera. He'd been so excited that day.

Tears were starting to well up in his eyes.

The next page held a much older picture – he was only about five or six, it looked like. His father was holding him in the air, obviously trying to get him still for the picture he was sure his mother was taking. He had a large, silver pot on his head, his eyes barely even visible beneath it.

When he turned the page again, he couldn't even make out the picture. Tears had started running down his cheeks. He brought an arm up to wipe at his eyes, getting a clearer view of both Falco and him showing off the new model-A644 blasters they'd got, but almost as soon as they were dry, they were wet again. He let out a sigh of defeat, allowing his shoulders to sag.

Maybe he couldn't do this.

He slowly closed the book, the sound of it shutting hitting him with a note of finality. He couldn't do any of this. He couldn't accept any of this. He couldn't...

But he did.

He did because he had to.

He did because he had no choice.

He did because he had nothing left in his heart to tell him otherwise.

He let his head sink down into his chest and cried.

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As Panther was making his way back from the restroom, he couldn't help but notice how short of breath he'd become by the time he'd returned to the infirmary. Maybe if he'd been focused on something else, he wouldn't have noticed it, but as it was, it was the only thing he _could_ focus on. How much air did they have left? How much time did they have left?

He felt himself become a bit nauseous.

Stepping back into the soft light of the lantern, he glanced towards the wall where he'd left Krystal. He wanted to smile, but at the same time, he simply couldn't. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't do that either. His emotions were caught up inside him, his mind somehow not able to determine which ones he should be utilizing.

He was both blessed and cursed: one of his greatest desires was finally given to him only to be snatched away just as quickly.

He wondered what it would be like to die. He could only assume the end would come slowly once it actually arrived. Suffocation wasn't exactly the quickest process. He felt his fur stand up on end a bit, thinking about it. How painful would it be? How frightening would it be?

You only die once.

Krystal looked so peaceful sleeping against the wall as she was doing now, almost as if the life _wasn't_ slowly slipping out of them. Almost as if two of her teammates _weren't_ already dead. He didn't want to see her suffer anymore. He didn't want to see anymore pain come to her.

But he couldn't provide that. They were both going to die, and the realization was finally starting to hit him full on.

They were both going to die.

Everyone around him was going to die.

He couldn't move for a second. His mind seemed to be fixated on that one thought, unable to tear itself away.

He actually felt strangely calm. He'd always thought that for someone like him, the end would come hard and fast. An explosion maybe... a bullet-hole in the side of his head. He was a mercenary after all. He shuddered a bit, the memory of Slippy's limp form lingering in his mind. He was the type who deserved a death like that, not innocent frogs like the former Star Fox member.

He walked over to Krystal, kneeling down in front of her. Ever so gently, so as not to wake her, he brought a hand up to push a bit of hair back behind her ear. Her face was so relaxed, not a taut muscle lying within it. In sleep she could find some solace. In sleep she could be somewhere else besides this decrepit ship.

In sleep...

Panther stood up, his eyes still fixated on her form. It took a few moments before he, quite suddenly, was walking towards the shelves. He shone his flashlight on them as he began opening the cupboard doors one by one, letting the orb of light trace across all of the contents inside.

It took until he reached the third cupboard for him to find what he was looking for. A grim, yet determined smile began to spread across his face as he reached up to grab it, silently turning it over in his hand. The small bottle made a rattling noise as its contents shifted.

A sudden paranoia entered his mind, and he turned his head quickly, glancing around the room. Falco was still in his trance, staring off into nothingness. Krystal was sleeping, obviously, and it appeared Wolf was as well, laying just a short ways away. Leon, however, was looking straight at him from his position against the wall.

His eyes met the chameleon's, locking on, both their gazes boring into each other. It was a strange look, the look his co-pilot was giving him now. One he didn't think he'd ever seen on him before, and one that he probably would have never seen altogether were they not in this situation.

It was a look of understanding.

His eyebrows weren't burrowed into his eye sockets for once, allowing his eyes to open a bit farther, his mouth remaining neutral. To anyone else it probably would have been interpreted as stand-offish, but to Panther, it spoke words between them that would never be said. Words that couldn't be said.

He felt his heart constrict slightly inside his chest, causing his breath to hitch. Without a single word, he slipped the bottle into an inside-pocket on his spacesuit.

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"Falco's gone."

Fox opened his eyes, turning his head up towards the sound of the voice. His eyes met Leon's, staring down at him, expressionless.

"He's gone?"

Leon nodded. He had his arms crossed over his chest, tail barely moving.

"Where did he go?"

"No idea. I fell asleep for about half an hour and woke up to find him missing." The chameleon gestured towards the wall where Falco had been not too long ago as if to prove his point.

Fox mused on this, silently chewing his lip. "Where the hell would he go...?"

"He's been gone almost an hour now."

"An hour? Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" Now Fox was beginning to get a bit concerned.

Leon shrugged, his face still not emitting any kind of emotion. "I didn't really think it was that important. There's only so many places to go on this ship."

Fox brought his hands up to massage the sides of his head, letting his eyes close for a few moments. He let off a small sigh. Wolf shifted in his lap, obviously having been disturbed either by the sound of their voices or Fox's movement.

"We should probably go look for him."

Leon's tail curled all the way up into a constricted coil. "I guess that would be a smart idea. Might take a while, though."

Fox didn't move for a second, staring straight ahead towards the opposite wall. Finally, he reached his hands down to slowly scootch Wolf's head off of him. The older canine made a few murmurs of discontent, but Fox stroked his hair slightly, whispering a few words of comfort. With a slight grunt, he then pushed himself to his feet, using the wall behind him to maintain his balance.

After making his way to the counter to procure flashlights for the both of them, he glanced over at Panther and Krystal, finding them both asleep. He didn't really want to wake them – they looked so peaceful, almost as if it would be a sin to disturb them. He and Leon could handle this by themselves.

He tossed one of the flashlights over to the chameleon before stepping out the door, shining his flashlight around.

"Should we split up?" Leon clicked on his own light.

"Probably... it's not like we really have anything to worry about in here." Fox let a small puff of air out of his mouth, ruffling the fur on his head. "I'll go ahead and search here... you take the second floor."

Leon didn't respond, simply starting off for the staircase not too far away. Fox watched him go for a second before turning to face the opposite direction, letting his flashlight cut its way through the darkness surrounding him. His eyes narrowed slightly, a bit of a chill running through him. It had gotten colder, and without his jacket he couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable.

But there were obviously more important things to deal with right now besides his comfort level.

He set off down the hallway, letting his flashlight trace the walls. He came across a few doors leading to supply closets, opening them simply to cover all his bases. He highly doubted that Falco would be in one of them, but it never hurt to be safe. The bird's current state of mind left him a bit worried. It changed the rules. It changed the way he had to think.

Nothing was the same as it had been before.

He passed the kitchen next, stepping inside to let his light scour here as well. The tables lit up one by one, the shadows they made rather haunting in the vast area surrounding them. He checked by the pantry as well, the doors still open from their earlier expedition. No one. Not a soul.

He couldn't really say he was surprised.

He exited the kitchen noiselessly, continuing on down the hallway. He couldn't help the slight feeling of déjà vu that he was getting – hadn't he just come this way not too long ago? Less than three hours ago, to be more exact, but Fox had never been that great with time. It gave him a strange feeling in his gut, as if he was tired. Only he wasn't. He licked his lips absent-mindedly.

As he was walking, it dawned on him that he might try calling out Falco's name. It seemed like a fairly smart idea, almost making him feel stupid for not thinking of it before. There was something that stopped him though... caught his voice before he could even start forming the sounds in his throat.

Fear.

He didn't want to hear what his voice sounded like in those cold halls. Didn't want to hear it reverberate around into nothing, as if it would summon more than just his lost co-pilot. He'd never been afraid of the dark before, well, at least not since he was young, but all of a sudden the fur on his arms was beginning to stand up and he didn't have any other explanation for it.

Where was that damn bird?

He'd made it back to the living quarter, something about it seeming slightly off since the last time he'd been down this way. He looked around, not noticing anything with his eyes, only feeling it inside him as the light reflected off the metal walls of the corridor. Yes, something was clearly different. The silence was beginning to close in on him, but his voice was still stuck, locked away. He seemed incapable of making any noise.

He took a few steps down the hallway, seeing each of the five doors that were their rooms. His own door was still ajar from when he'd been in it before, the darkness from inside seeming even more black than what was around him.

He walked right past it, not stopping until he'd made it to Falco's room. There was suddenly no need to check all of them. There was no need to check places he knew he wouldn't be. He placed his hand on the door handle, his fingers tightening as he slowly pushed it down, feeling the click as the jam slid out. He opened the door without a second thought.

Fox couldn't remember all that many times in his life when he'd been genuinely surprised. He wasn't exactly the sort of person who got riled up over things. His teammates would probably have said otherwise, but in his own mind, Fox McCloud was a calm, collected leader that didn't let much get to him.

So maybe that was why he was so surprised now. No, not by the scene in front of him, grimly splayed out in the light of his flashlight, but by the fact that he wasn't surprised by what he saw. In fact, he didn't even feel his heart jump slightly, nor his breath hitch in his throat. All he did was bring a finger to his mouth, chewing on it silently.

Falco was sprawled on his bed, face-down in the covers, blood pooled between the folds of the sheets and on the floor where it had dripped. He was still clutching his blaster, arm hung over the side of the bed.

Fox stood there for a second, allowing himself to fully take in the sight. It wasn't often you saw two of your best friends dead within a twenty-four hour time period. It left him feeling strangely empty. Strangely emotionless.

He walked over to the bed, not even caring when his boot sank down into the blood-soaked carpet. He reached a hand out to calmly take the blaster out of his friend's hand, slipping it onto his own belt. The side of Falco's head had been stained a horrible, dark-reddish color, his feathers coated in slowly-congealing blood.

He let himself sit down on the bed, the feeling of wetness spreading across the bottom of his pants and along his legs. Carefully, but almost apathetically, he reached over to pull the bird's body towards him, bringing him to rest on his lap much the same as he'd had Wolf earlier. The blood dripped unrestrained onto his legs, soaking into the fabric.

His eyes continued to stare straight ahead, unfocused in the darkness.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Krystal awoke, she had to catch herself before panic took over. She couldn't breathe. She clenched her eyes shut, willing herself to calm down, slowing her breaths. She felt herself shudder slightly as she let herself become adjusted to the thin air supply she had to try pulling into her lungs.

She remained perfectly still for a few minutes, letting herself just become readjusted to this new way to breathe.

When she finally did open her eyes, she looked up to see Panther glancing down at her in concern. She tried to played it off as if nothing was wrong, forming a rather forced smile on her face.

"It's alright – I know. Our time here is slowly coming to an end."

Krystal's face fell a bit at this, bringing her eyes down towards Panther's shoulder.

"I'm not sure what the pressure gauge is reading, but we've obviously reached the point where breathing can no longer be taken for granted."

She let herself turn slightly so that she was facing away from Panther and the wall, taking in the sight of the all-too familiar infirmary. She wondered how much longer she'd be sitting here, gazing around. How long before this view, slightly grating as it had become, would be simply a memory behind her closed eyes.

"Where did everyone else go...?"

It had taken her a moment to register the fact that the room was now empty save for Wolf's sleeping form a short ways away.

Panther glanced around, though only to emphasize the fact that he was considering her question. "I'm not sure... they were gone when I woke up as well. I don't know how long we've been asleep."

At this, Krystal let her eyelids fall for a brief moment. "I can't tell the difference between a minute and an hour in here anymore."

Panther didn't say anything, simply rubbing the side of her arm idly. His eyes seemed captivated by the glow of the lantern. Both of their thoughts rested on the question regarding the length of time they had left, but neither had the courage to bring it up.

"I never imagined that this would be the way I'd die."

The feline glanced down towards his companion, expression unchanging.

"There's so many things that I still wanted to do in my life... so many opportunities, experiences... so much left to live for."

He wasn't sure what to say. When there's nothing that can be done to change the inevitable, there's not much that can be said.

"I was so scared before... I couldn't... couldn't keep it bottled up inside me." She let her eyes unfocus, gazing out in front of her. "And now I can't even get myself to tear up." She turned her head, finally, to look back up at Panther. "Panther, do you... do you think it's because I've given up?"

He remained silent for a few more moments, bringing his eyes over to meet Krystal's. With one hand, he scratched absent-mindedly at the scar on his cheek. "I wouldn't say given up so much as accepted it. Accepted everything."

Krystal's eyes glazed over. She turned her head down, now staring at Panther's arm as if looking straight through him to the wall. "Accepted... death."

They both remained motionless, silent, hearing only the faint sounds of Wolf's breathing from his place along the other wall.

"How can you just accept death...?"

Panther's eyebrows furrowed, but he didn't turn to look at Krystal, so he didn't know if she was looking towards him or not. "I suppose if you have nothing else to accept _besides _death, it seems almost natural. We've been innately trained our whole lives to accept things as they come, whether good _or_ bad. Once you eliminate everything else from your life besides that one constant of death then... well... is there really any other choice?"

Krystal didn't say anything. With her head tilted as it was, her loose strands of hair had come down to hang in her face, but she did nothing to fix them.

"Do you think it will hurt to... die?"

Panther turned his head to look at her, their eyes finally meeting again. He felt a slight chill creep up his spine. There was something in her eyes... something that...

He reached inside his suit, searching for that compartment he knew to be there. His fingers curled around the bottle he'd placed there not more than two hours earlier. Without a word, he brought it out, popping the top off with his thumb.

Krystal stared at him. Stared at the bottle. There was a string connecting both their hands together, invisible by all, but strangely electrifying.

Panther let his hand travel forward, stopping above her now spread hand. He tilted the bottle down, watching as the tiny caplets fell into her palm noiselessly. They looked so harmless – all glossy and blue, sitting in their small pile as if totally innocent. He poured the remaining half of the bottle into his own hand, the capsules seeming to burn like fire as they touched his skin.

They both seemed entranced by what they now held, staring down into their hands as if they contained untold secrets of the universe. Krystal let her thumb sift through the pills, watching as they spread across her palm and fingers, rolling over each other, bumping each other. Her next swallow came a bit hard.

Finally, as if broken from a trance, she got to her feet, looking around the room as if in confusion. Her eyes narrowed as they settled on the water jug only a few steps away. She let her feet guide her there without even thinking.

Once kneeling down next to it, she pulled a cup from the stack, pouring the contents of the now, almost-empty jug into it. It sloshed a bit, leaving small pools of water on the cold floor, but she paid it no heed, simply setting the jug back in its former position and standing up once more with the cup. She made her way back over to Panther, who had watched her keenly the entire time.

She brought her eyes up to meet his, searching, questioning. And yet, she knew that whatever question it was she felt rise up inside her had already been answered. They both knew it. They both understood it.

They both accepted it.

She brought her hand to her mouth, letting the pile of pills fall inside. They felt so strange on her tongue. They rolled around, playing off each other, their smooth textures allowing them to slide easily around the sides of her mouth. With a movement from her other hand, the water from the cup was soon inside as well, swirling them around like a tornado.

It took her a few swallows to get them all down. She wasn't exactly accustomed to taking so many, in fact, she wasn't all that accustomed to pills in general. She felt herself start to gag slightly and brought her head back down, pausing a moment before allowing her throat to open once more.

Panther watched her silently, his expression never changing. A small trickle of water had dribbled down her chin, wetting the fur before dripping down onto her knees. Once he saw that she'd finished, he brought his hand up to drop his own pile of capsules into his mouth. He had to shake his hand a few times to get them all to separate from his skin.

Krystal handed him the cup of water without question, and he took it gratefully, letting the remaining water fall into his mouth. It didn't take him long to get all the pills down his throat, though he did feel a slight catch a number of times, almost causing him to cough. His mouth tasted rather bitter afterwards.

He set the now empty cup down beside him, bringing an arm up to wipe any stray bits of water away from his mouth and chin.

He didn't look at her for a moment, simply gazing down at the fabric covering his legs. He wasn't sure what it was that he was feeling. Shame? Guilt? ...relief? There was a slight tingle at the back of his neck at this.

He let his head tilt upwards at last, his eyes meeting Krystal's. They looked so empty. Was it because of the darkness? They looked so black. So unlike how they normally looked.

Krystal smiled at him, though the expression had no joy attached to it. It was the saddest smile he'd ever seen, and he felt something in his chest stop, as if broken. Were he actually going to live much longer, he might have been afraid it would haunt him forever. The slight curve of her lips upward, her vacant eyes... he almost had to look away. It was the kind of look one hopes never to see in his lifetime.

He brought his arms up to her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. She came without any resistance, practically falling into him. He held her tightly, as if afraid she would suddenly disappear into the darkness. He couldn't even feel the warmth of her against him.

There were so many things they both wanted to say, but they were beyond the time that they could be said. So many questions they still wanted to ask each other, but no will for them to be asked.

Panther simply held her tight, both of them closing their eyes, only hoping to feel each other's presence as they went to sleep one final time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He was so cold. He had his hands up, rubbing the sides of his arms, clutching them, but it wasn't doing any good. The look that Leon gave him as he stood up from his kneeling position seemed to echo somewhere deep within his mind.

The chameleon didn't say anything to him, just stood there, watching.

Fox had thought something was a bit out of place when they'd continued sleeping for so long, but this... was this really...?

He'd already lost his ability to cry somehow, so his cheeks remained dry, but for all it was worth, his already crushed heart seemed to sink even further in his chest. He looked at Leon, his eyes searching for something, anything. Answers? Remorse? Comfort? The other pilot provided nothing, his eyes as steely as ever.

Then again, he didn't know what he, himself, looked like. What could either of them do? Their own time was almost up, it was obvious... did it matter what they did as their friends and fellow pilots died around them?

There was something about the two against the wall as they sat perfectly still. It was something he couldn't quite place, something that simply caused his arms to twinge slightly, a shuddered sigh to pass unheeded through his lips. He didn't want to do this anymore. He didn't want to feel this way anymore.

What was he even supposed to do at this point?

Leon looked back towards Panther and Krystal, his tail seemed to be stuck in its half-coiled position. His eyes appeared a bit uncertain, but he made no other motions to move or say anything.

"So I guess it's down to three then, huh?" Fox's voice seemed to stick out in the silence around him.

Leon's eyes met his, still no change in his expression. If anything, his eyes narrowed even more. "Make that..." His voice came out a bit strangled. He let out a cough. "Make that two."

Fox felt his eyebrows furrow in confusion. Leon, however, simply took a step towards the vulpine, extending his hand. When both their hands met, the chameleon grasped it tight, his teeth clenched.

"Fox... you and your team aren't... aren't such bad guys." He wasn't looking him in the face as he said this.

Fox wasn't sure how to reply, now just looking down at Leon's face in the dim light.

With one last shake, Leon finally let his hand go, bringing it back to his side wordlessly. After a few moments, he began walking back towards the far wall.

"L... Leon? What are you...?" Fox took a step to follow him, his arm still outstretched from their handshake.

Leon simply turned his head back around, the smallest beginnings of a smile playing on his face. Fox stopped in his tracks.

With that last glance, he continued his walk to the wall, sitting himself down against it. Silently, he brought his legs up into a cross-legged position, tail curled around him and hands merely resting on his thighs. He let his head tilt forward atop his now slumped shoulders, closing his eyes.

Fox watched this, his gaze not leaving the other pilot. There was something so sad about it, something that sent a chill through his spine. The chameleon sat completely motionless now, save for the slight rise and fall of his shoulders as he breathed, but even that was beginning to slow.

He couldn't watch anymore. With all that had happened in the last couple of hours, he simply couldn't take it. He turned his back, wrapping his arms tighter around himself.

"Leon..."

His own breath came out raspy and forced, his lungs constantly struggling to pull enough oxygen out of the thinning air to keep him alive. He glanced towards the pressure gauge that seemed to be the source of all their trouble. Less than a centimeter or so still remained of it.

Was it really that close already? Where had the time gone?

He brought a hand up to scratch at the top of his head, a rather depressing smile forming on his face. The silent, absolute emptiness that emanated from every region of the ship seemed so strong all of a sudden. It seemed to echo what he was feeling inside.

A part of him wondered how it was that he was even able to handle this, how he could still be standing here and not drowned on the floor in grief. He didn't have an answer, and for once in his life, he didn't care.

He let his eyes fall down to where Wolf was sleeping on the floor. His feet walked him over to the other's side, legs bending as he kneeled down slowly. With one of his hands, he began letting his fingers run softly through the lupine's hair, that sad smile still ever present on his features.

"...Fox... is that you?"

He hadn't realized the other was actually awake.

"Yeah, Wolf. It's me."

Wolf's eye stared up at him through the dim light, though it didn't seem to be focused on him. It _couldn't_ focus on him.

"What's going on? What happened to everyone else?"

Fox let himself travel all the way to the floor, leaning backwards enough that he could fall back on his rear. He continued running his hand through Wolf's hair.

"Oh, it's... nothing. They're sleeping."

Wolf was silent now, staring up at the ceiling. His features looked blurred and a bit surreal in the light from the lantern.

"...hey Fox? Do... do you remember when my dad took me on that trip into Corneria City?"

Of course he didn't.

"Mmmhm."

"It was the first time I'd ever been there... he took me to see the parade... you know, that big one they hold every year in the plaza?"

"Yeah, I know it."

"That was so much fun!" His excitement seemed to gather up for a moment. "It was... it... that was only a few days before they took him away."

Fox looked down to see the beginnings of tears forming in the other's eye.

"It... I... I called out to him, but he didn't come back..." His voice was coming out strangled now, throat constricting. "And mom just sat there... why... why wasn't he...?"

He was crying silently now, unable even to talk anymore. Fox didn't say anything, just staring at the wall.

"I called... every night..." The words came out between his choked sobs.

It was silent in the room, the glow from the lantern reflecting off the walls softly. Everything seemed so still.

"Fox... I... I can't breathe very well..."

Fox pressed his lips together tightly, eyes narrowing, but he didn't say anything. Wolf's breathing was coming out haggard and raked.

After a few moments, Fox turned down to look at his companion, the lupine's eye fixated on the ceiling above him as his chest rose and fell. He let his hand run down the side of his face gently. Moving forward, he leaned over until he was looking straight down into the other's eye, the sad smile from before returning to his own features.

Ever so slightly, he shortened the distance between them until their lips connected, pressing against him with an almost gentle force.

They stayed like that for a while, neither one wanting to move. Wolf gave a small sniffle, his sobs not having entirely disappeared yet. Fox had his eyes closed, trying to take in the moment as best as he could.

When Fox finally pulled away, he looked down into the other's eye, eyebrows furrowed. Wolf was looking up at him innocently, eye still wet with tears.

"What... what was that... for...?"

Fox did it before he could let himself rethink it. He brought his hands to the other's throat, clenching it with his fingers. Pressing his thumbs firmly into the center, he began squeezing as hard as he could.

Wolf instantly spasmed, feet kicking out wildly. His throat made sputtering noises as he tried calling out, tried saying something, anything. He brought his hands to his neck, trying to pull Fox's away. Fox could feel his fingers dig into his wrists, clinging desperately, scratching him.

He could no longer see – the tears he thought he could no longer produce had now filled his eyes, already falling down in streams across his cheeks. He clenched his teeth together, pressing down harder. Wolf's eye was now closed tightly, anguished, strangled cries the only noises he could make as he pulled helplessly against Fox's hands.

And all of a sudden his legs kicked out for the last time. His arms and head jerked a few times, the muscles inside them twitching, before falling down limply in Fox's arms. His body lay totally still.

Fox couldn't even see him through the tears. They were falling down freely now, soaking into his scarf, falling down onto his own jacket which Wolf still wore. A slightly choked sob passed through his lips as he let go of Wolf's throat, leaving unsightly red streaks across its entire length.

Fox's hands were shaking. He held them up, just looking at them, staring at them, crying at them. He sucked air into his lungs with a horrible gasp, barely able to get enough to actually do any good.

With his trembling hand, he reached towards his belt, pulling out Falco's blaster. It felt cold against his skin, cold and clammy. The entire thing was now shaking, a dark, black blur all that he could see through his watery eyes.

He was so scared.

He brought the gun to his mouth, opening it ever so slightly. It rattled against his teeth. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to rid himself of the some of the tears so he could at least see, but it didn't do much good. This was it. This was finally it. He was shaking as much from fear now as he was from grief.

He held his breath and pulled the trigger.

There was a clicking sound from the gun. Realizing, with a start, that he wasn't dead, Fox cocked an eye open, trying to look down at it. He pulled the trigger again. Click. And again. Click. It just kept clicking.

He pulled the gun out of his mouth, looking down at it. For a second he was silent, before another choked sob ran through his body. He couldn't even kill himself properly! What did this world have against him? He threw the gun at the wall, hearing the metal hit it with a clang before falling to the ground.

All he wanted to do was die. He had nothing left. He had absolutely nothing. No one. He brought his hands to his eyes, shoulders heaving as he let himself practically slump to the ground.

A shudder swept across the entire ship

He opened his eyes a bit startled, trying to see through the water in front of his eyes. An asteroid? Had another one hit them? Maybe someone _was_ looking out for him. Blow the entire ship into oblivion!

There was a horrifying creak across one side of the ship, echoing throughout the room and ringing in Fox's ears.

Was this it? Now would he finally be offered solitude? He clenched his eyes shut, letting himself fall down on top of Wolf's body, his head buried into his stomach. It was all he could do to keep from crying out in anguish.

But nothing came. No more shudders or creaks. No sound of the ship breaking apart. No sudden rush as all the air was sucked out. Everything was exactly the same.

He didn't move. He couldn't move. This was too much – he didn't even have the will to live anymore. He would take the horrid, slow death, his lungs gasping for air until there was none left to breathe. He would clench his teeth, fighting for every last gulp of life as his body spasmed, desperately needing what wasn't there.

He just wanted to die. Let him die.

He wasn't sure how long he lay there, crying silently into the fabric of Wolf's shirt. It didn't matter to him anymore. Time was simply a hindrance before he could finally be in a world where there wasn't pain anymore.

He was so out of it that he didn't notice when footsteps came from outside the door, the sound of voices echoing off the normally quiet-as-death halls. They were rather slow moving for a few minutes, until, at the excited voice of someone towards the front, they began hurriedly making their way closer, before finally stepping foot inside the infirmary.

The figure in front took the contraption off his face as a gasp of air came out. "I've found them!"

More figures rushed in. Fox vaguely became aware that there were others in the room, raising his head.

"He's still alive!"

"Get him an oxygen mask."

His eyebrows furrowed as he looked about, seeing two of the figures rush over to him, picking him up by the arms and bringing him towards the door.

"Fox? Fox McCloud?"

He didn't answer, simply strained his eyes as he attempted to look around him. The lights they had were much brighter than either their lantern or flashlights had been, making it hard for him to see.

"_Fox?_"

"...huh? What?"

"Fox, we're here with Senator Kalray. Your ship showed up on radar as being dead, so we came to check it out. Are you alright?"

"...Senator... Kalray...?" He was beginning to become more aware of just exactly what was going on.

A few of the other figures were now shining their lights around the room, searching all the other bodies.

"This is horrible..."

"None of the rest are alive."

"Fox, are you with us? Stay with us! It's gonna be alright now, we're here to save you."

Fox looked around at the figures that were practically surrounding him now. "Save...? I'm gonna... be alright?" He held his hands out in front of him, looking down at them. He was starting to shake. "I'm gonna be... alright?"

It suddenly hit him like a bomb. He was going to be alright. They'd been rescued. They were being saved. They were going to be... alright...

He was shaking again, his eyes wide open now. He brought his hands up to hold his face, his knees threatening to give. He swung his body around as he glanced wildly about the room.

No.

His breathing quickened to an alarming rate, practically hyperventilating.

"Fox, are you ok? What's wrong?"

No.

He took off towards the other side of the room, tripping as he attempted to pull himself forward. He was now on the floor, crawling, as he continued to wobble uncertainly.

He made it to where Wolf's body lay, still splayed out as he'd left him. He clutched the front of his jacket, trying to pull him up, shaking him. Tears had already begun falling down his face again.

"Wolf, get up! They're here to save us!"

Wolf's head rolled a bit precariously before falling limply backwards as he shook him, panic and hysteria beginning to overtake the vulpine.

"We're gonna be ok, Wolf! Wake up, please, wake up! I didn't mean it!"

"Will somebody get him back over here?"

Two of the figures started towards Fox once again, attempting to grab his arms and pick him up off the ground. Fox let out an anguished cry as he struggled against them, finally jerking his way out of their grasp and back down to the floor. The figures both gave startled yelps as they were thrown off balance.

Fox immediately latched himself onto Wolf's body, burying his head into his chest. His whole body heaved uncontrollably as his sobs echoed through the small room. He wouldn't leave him. There was no way he was going to leave him. He was still... he was still...

The figures in the room had stopped what they were doing, now simply watching the canine as he practically writhed on the floor. They were silent, most growing slightly uncomfortable, none of them knowing what to say or do.

And still, Fox continued to cry.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The ride home seemed to last forever. The members of Senator Kalray's entourage tried to make him as comfortable as possible – they'd given him a blanket to wrap around his shoulders, sat him in the back of one of the ships where they had rather large, comfy chairs... they'd even offered him some food, though he just stared at them blankly when they tried to give it to him.

The entire time, he simply stared out the window near him, his eyes almost unblinking.

When they'd finally made it back to Corneria, two of the personnel made sure to stand right next to him as he walked off the ship, just in case he should collapse or something. His current state both worried and baffled them, as they weren't quite sure how to deal with it.

They'd called ahead to the Corneria City Municipal Hospital, believing Fox should be checked over to make sure that everything was alright. They'd also called General Pepper, believing him to be the best person to contact given the situation.

It was because of that that said general now stood just outside of the shipdock as Fox and his company exited the ship, along with Bill Gray and a number of other military personnel. Fox walked up to them, staring blankly ahead of him, arms simply hanging down at his sides.

"Fox!"

Bill was before him in an instant, holding his shoulders. "Fox, bud, you ok?"

Pepper took a step towards him as well. "We heard the news and came right away. This is horrible, Fox... just horrible... we can't even imagine how you must feel."

Fox's head turned in an arc to take in everything, his eyes practically emotionless. Everyone was looking at him, staring at him, expecting something of him...

"Bill..."

It was more a plea than anything else, and then he fell to his knees. Bill was surprised at first, but was able to catch enough of his weight that he didn't take all of gravity's force on the way down.

"Fox! _Fox!_" He was still holding his shoulders, trying to look into Fox's face for some kind of answer, but Fox just stared at him vacantly. Finally, he simply wrapped his arms around the other canine's neck, pulling him towards him.

"It's ok, Fox... it's gonna be ok... just hold tight..."

The hospital wasn't much better than the ship. They checked all his vitals, ran a few tests, had him up in his own bed... everyone was still staring at him, though. Their eyes were like beams of fire that threatened to burn through his head and into his brain.

Bill stayed with him a while, sitting next to his bed. He talked at him, trying his best to make him feel more comfortable, more at home, more... coherent. Fox didn't say anything. He now had the ceiling to stare at, doing his best to avoid the gazes of those who would invade his privacy with their piercing glances.

Why wouldn't they leave him alone? The feeling of their eyes on him made his whole body itch, but he didn't have any will to scratch.

A nurse came in to check on him. There was nothing wrong with him. He had a bruised shoulder – Fox suspected it was from when he'd fallen on the staircase – but nothing else. Maybe a slight cold. He didn't need to be in the hospital. It was all for good show.

The stark white of the walls seemed harsh compared to the dull gray of the ship.

Fox's hands still shook. They felt so cold, like all the blood was gone from them and they were cut off from the rest of his body. He could barely feel them. Why was he here?

General Pepper had stayed for a short while, maybe an hour. Maybe three. Or maybe it had just been ten minutes? Fox remembered his face, his jaw moving up and down as he said something. He couldn't seem to understand him though, but maybe it was just that he didn't want to understand. He hadn't really even looked at him – there was a small bug crawling across the ceiling that had distracted him.

They would probably send him to therapy. He knew they would. Everybody who was crazy went to therapy. Was he crazy? Of course not – he was fine! There was nobody who could tell him otherwise, but Pepper had this look on his face that reminded Fox of crazy people, so he figured that must be where he was going.

Where was he gonna go after this? Would they take him back to his apartment? He hoped so. He couldn't remember how to get there. It seemed like he hadn't been there for at least a year. Maybe even two! He hoped no one had messed with his stuff while he was gone. He didn't like it when people messed with his stuff. He could never find anything then – just like his lucky mug that ended up under the kitchen sink that one time he invited Falco and some of his friends over for drinks.

It was getting late now. He knew that because outside it was getting dark. Very dark. It reminded him of space.

He wanted to ask Bill to close the curtains but he couldn't seem to form the words in his throat. In fact, he couldn't really form anything in his throat at the moment. Talking seemed like such a foreign concept.

When Bill finally had to leave, he tried again. He didn't want Bill to leave. He would be all alone. He didn't think he could stand being all alone. But again, nothing. He tried and tried. He got his head to tilt so he could look at his former academy-mate, but his throat remained stuck.

Bill was just looking at him now, as if expecting him to say something, but when he didn't, his face fell slightly and he made his way towards the door. With one last goodbye and a promise to come again tomorrow, he left.

And Fox watched him, his eyes wide.

He was alone again. Alone. Entirely. Why did he have to be alone? He continued to stare after the door, but no one came. Not even a nurse.

Alone. He didn't want to be alone.

He tried crying, but he couldn't. He couldn't even get his face to form a depressed expression – his eyebrows simply twitched, moving slightly forward. He wanted to cry. He wanted to cry because he was alone. He wanted to cry because he couldn't cry.

But he couldn't. He couldn't do anything but bide his time as he stared at the ceiling, his insides torn apart and his mind calling out helplessly. The ceiling stared back at him with an unchanging expression.

Fox's eyes continued gazing straight ahead, unblinking.


End file.
